My first sock

ignore the pale white leg and admire the sock. I frogged the toe and re-did it because the first toe was shaped like _| |_ now it is more like | \ which is more like my foot as I have a really long toes.

Anyway for a first sock I am pretty pleased with it although I already know some changes I will make to the next pair. I think by pair 4 or 5 I should have figured out what I like.

sock progress

Well, I am up to the toe on my first sock and my toe class is Wed. so I put that sock on some smaller needles (since I don't have any stitch keepers yet) and started another pair on the longer needles - What a difference in the yarns - the Regia Strato Color is very splitty to me.

It is a little hard to see the second little cuff so I put it on the pillow because when it was on the chair it just about disappeared -- The colors are off a bit the chair is a darker blue and the little pillow is navy blue and the new sock cuff is deep gray, light gray, beige - I think it was the flash bleaching the colors out a bit.

Socks may be my summer knitting since you can knit without having anything draping over your lap - that will be grand in 90 degree weather with 80% humidity and no air conditioning. So by fall maybe I will have a nice sock wardrobe!

My First Sock

This is the night of my class before I made my mistake of purling away for a whole row -- and to think I used to hate purling.....










sorry this second picture is so dark - nothing seems to be working for me today --- this is today after I tinked back 12 rows and redid them. Also Sorry about the bright flash in the computer screen but it was the only place I could put the sock cuff as my house is in major disarray - more than usual that is. Cleaning and moving and rearranging for the new chair delivery on Tuesday and smoking a dozen blue fish for the fire department clam bake next week - so no kitchen counter space free yet and no space in the living room free.

shawl that has to be done tomorrow afternoon.

shawl that has to be done tomorrow afternoon.
Originally uploaded by rho1640.

am I NUTS!!!! I had 2 full pattern repeats done last night and decided it wasn't long enough so frogged the whole thing and started new. This is for my MIL's 90th birthday tomorrow......

my first warshcloth from MD book

my first warshcloth from MD book
Originally uploaded by rho1640.

I finally got my brain around the directions for this -- it wasn't the book that was wrong - it was my trying to translate the directions to my knitting. I knit Continental and purl Norwegian so I had to make it a picture in my brain to understand what would work. There are a few mistakes in it but nothing major - in other words it will be a grand wash cloth.

Sarah Blanch Shawl 5/06

Sarah Blanch Shawl 5/06
Originally uploaded by rho1640.

I am the worst photographer - if I keep knitting and blogging (I don't see that I will ever give up knitting) I have to take a class in making artistic show-off pictures.

But I would make the next one I do a little longer and also a little wider but I have to say this feels like a dream.

I had it on while checking mail and reading blogs and decided to join 9 inches on each side and made this a very expensive shrug. I think I will get more joy of this particular item this way. Our house is chilly and it stays over my arms better this way when I am reading or on the computer or just sitting watching tv. And if I decide I want to change it I can just take out the stitches - no big deal.

I LOVE love love the way this feels - it is Cherry Tree Hill Tropical Storm Silk & Merino dk

Rain Rain Go Away

It has rained so much today - everything is flooded -- this is a time I am so happy that I live on a hill. A giggle today - DH had run into the post office and I was knitting in the car and a guy came out of the laundromat across the street and ran across to his car and opened the hatch of his car to put his laundry in - I fully expected that he would close the hatch and go to the drivers seat and get in to drive away -- but he jumped into the car in the hatch and closed it and crawled over the seats to the front seat and drove away -- now does that tell you how hard it was raining LOL

What I did on my vacation...

these are pictures from the Ward Foundation World Decoy Carving Championship - the first one is by a friend of ours and he won second place in Masters Class with it




the next two I just love - the painting on it is beautiful isn't it - sorry I don't know who did it though and the third was for a friend in AZ just because of the cactus (and of course because we loved it enough to take a picture of it)

I also got quite a bit of knitting done - including casting on and doing about 3/4 of my Sarah Blanch Shawl) while I was sitting around when DH was at various sporting clay ranges. The shawl should be finished today and if we EVER get sun again I will take a picture of it and post it -- it has rained all week and today by 9am we had over an inch and a half of rain with over 5 predicted for today and tomorrow - moldy moldy me....

I emailed the woman that made up the jacket pattern at both her home and work addy and either she doesn't check her email or she really really didn't like my sweater and wants no association with it. I am choosing to believe the first option. (oh, how I wish I could put an ironic smiley here) But I can't give out her pattern or send you to her for it until I hear from her - sorry to all who asked about it.

a nightmare for me

Anyone that knows me knows I hate being the center of attention - my wedding was torture for me (I tried to run out of the church but DH kept pulling me back saying enjoy this -- what, was he crazy?) - well today may have been right up there with that moment. At knitting circle there was a journalist from the local newspaper doing an article on the knitting circle.....guess who had to have her picture taken in her new sweater because everyone loves it --- if you guessed me you were Right!! Now for the next week I have to hope she picked other pictures to use other than that one for the article.... ACK double ACCKKKK!!!

I forgot to mention that I was working in my back room all day (the room that is slated to become my knitting sanctuary/guest room) and forgot the time so I did a quick spritz clean-up and changed clothes ran a brush thru my hair so I looked worse than I usually do LOL isn't that the way things work out.

So I am praying that the article uses any of the other pictures she took -- any of them at all even if I am in it in amongst the others heheh

To everyone that has asked

where I got the pattern for my sweater -- I wrote to the woman who made it up and hopefully will hear from her by the time I get back from vacation (will be back Tuesday) and I can tell you all where to get the pattern.

Off to pack.... VACATION isn't that a wonderful word (even when you are retired)

My sleeve is fixed

Thanks to a very patient and super knitting friend my sleeve is fixed - I went to show her the sweater and to buy some more yarn for a new project and was showing her my too tight sleeve - she asked if it would bother me every time I wore the sweater - Wellll .....while it fit and wasn't tight tight (it just wasn't as loose as the other sleeve) it would make itself known to me each time I put it on and I would probably mutter to myself about it... So while we sat and chatted she took out the binding off part and picked back the join a bit and put the loose stitches on a piece of yarn for me...

I came home and within 15 minutes put it on larger needles and bound it off loosely and joined it all back together -- TAH DAH no more muttering to myself (well at least not about a tight sleeve)

Thank you Kathleen - I never ever would have done that and it made SUCH a difference.

Just a note --- if this is more difficult to read or make sense of than it normally is - it is because I haven't slept in 29 hours and I am a just a tad tired......

Ok Here it is!!

Warning, warning, Danger Will Robinson----

I take the worst pictures and as you can see DH isn't much better. My shirt under the sweater should have been smoothed out -- I should try to stand non-lopsided (my shoulder drops on the side I broke and I never realized just how much) And now you all will know just how super sized I am and that when I say I am whiter than white I really, really mean it! That really is the color of my hair and skin.




The sleeves are a bit long - and I bound off the sleeve on the right side nice and tight (something I will not do again) so that one is not stretchy at all. But other than that I don't think it is too bad for a first try.

The knitting is DONE!!

Will try to get a picture tomorrow before I start joining it together.....ACK!!!!!!

Thanks everyone

I did get some rows done last night as DH was snoring so loud I couldn't sleep (along with doing a jumping bean impression - because of his walking alot at the range yesterday) So from 1am to 3am I worked on the sleeve - I have about 76 more rows to go (if I did the math right). So after the obligatory brunch with family I WILL finish this today -- then I will need a push to do the sewing together.

So who is brilliant?

and can tell me why I am going so slowly on the sleeve of my sweater - personally I think I am afraid to finish it - then I have to join it all and try it on to see if it fits. This sleeve is taking longer than the whole sweater did I swear - and it isn't hard it is just decreasing after knitting so many rows. Geeze - what a whimp!

Progress!!

Maybe not as much as I hope for this weekend but I am getting there -- Just have about 2 inches more of this part of the sleeve then I start the decreases and it will go pretty fast.

Sorry it isn't perfectly straight on the blanket but dang it was cold out there without a coat (and no it never crossed my mind to go in to get a coat so I could position it just so) ;p

No picture today

It has been pouring all day and I need to do this outside at this point - there is a LOT of material to lay out now. We picked out our horseradish roots today so will be doing that soon Probably Monday. Hopefully it will be really nice outside that day so we can do all the grinding out there and have less tears at least.

A Post a Post!!!!

Can you believe I am actually making a post. Tomorrow or the next day I will have a picture to add of my sweater with the sleeve done. I just decreased to start the sleeve today.

Now, why haven't I had anything to say lately? Well, I'm still fighting this bug and the last part was another bout of Pink Eye and I was just plain disgusted and didn't want to air and expand on that disgust -- now it seems to be getting better so I am happier :D

Tomorrow is a trip to pick ups fresh horseradish roots to make horseradish for Easter - So there will be LOTS of tears in our house over the next couple of days. But it is one of those things that is so worthwhile because the horseradish is so much better than what you can buy.

sweater sleeve, back and left front

sweater sleeve, back and left front
Originally uploaded by rho1640.

First section done - now I cast on for second part - the wavy part is the back where I will continue after doing a bunch of inches for the right front -- can you believe how brown my lawn is? It just goes to show that growing season hasn't begun in NY yet. And this is adjusted a bit to make the colors look a bit better as the sun was bleaching things out a LOT.

Problems with photos

Everyone is reporting problems uploading pictures lately - I just don't have any pictures to upload - I hope by the end of the week I will have some significant changes to show for my efforts.

My BIG news -- like doing this sweater isn't enough - I ordered sock yarn - not one, not two but 3 different yarns. I have never done a sock before and I order 3 yarns??? My thinking is (convoluted as usual) the first sock I will hate - because I will have to get used to using all those needles (those very small needles) The second I will feel a bit better about because it is starting to feel a bit more normal using all those needles and by the 3rd sock I will have decided if I like doing them and will continue or if I hate doing socks. And I haven't done any socks yet but I have decided I like mismatched socks - not going to stress about being sure that each one is exactly the same as the other LOL