brilliant ideas

So, I got this brilliant idea.

You can pause now and laugh if you want.

I started a toe up basic sock from Modesock and then saw neldoreth and could not decide if I should rip that sock out and start over using that pattern (since it is a top down instead of toe up pattern). And then I thought--why can't I just work this pattern from the toe up. I figured the order of the chart and started in. And...

It just didn't look right. And then I turned it inside out and there was the pattern--sort of:

Sorry for the bad pictures, I took them on the ipad before I ripped them out and just started a plain toe up sock.

It looks so pretty, but so plain. Sigh. Anyway, I'd be father along, but here is where I admit a failing. I want to do a specific heel that is in Socks from the Toe up and it includes wrap and turns. I never mastered the wrap and turn. In fact, the last socks I did with this heel, I had to look up how to do wrap and turn, and I suspect I did it wrong. And now, I have to look it up again. I will though. It is just that my knitting time is also my relaxing time and this isn't meshing. Perhaps some night when the children silently drift off to sleep.

In the mean time, I also finished a sewing project.

All because I started a de-cluttering project where I get rid of (at least) two things every day. I have been working on my sewing room and as I have been going along, putting things away, getting rid of things to make room etc, I kept tripping over this more than half completed project, and the other day I decided that if I finished it, I could put the pattern away in the newly cleared out pattern drawer. And I could throw away the scraps. and so, I finished my Ipad carry case.

Details, can be found in this entry. I had to re-do the flap, and found it easier to sew the button on before I had the whole thing together. I think if I make one for a gift, I may use a different type of closure, as I am not a fan of velcro.

I love it and so now am thinking about carrying my ipad everywhere.

sock dilemma

I didn't realize it had been nearly a month since I updated. I spent a lot of theta time dithering about what to knit next. (And I made some mango jam, for my future self)

I decided fairly early on that I wanted to make some sort of sock, that had been sitting in my queue for a while. So, I pulled out my book with the waving lace socks, and some brand new Modesock yarn in one of the 221b colors that I think has been discontinued and started swatching.

Oh my is that pretty yarn. And I got a good fabric, but I wasn't quite reaching gauge for the project. Then I realized the finished size for those socks in a good inch smaller than what I usually aim for (2 inches smaller than my foot). It was starting to feel like an Algebra problem. And I wondered if I would have to publicly apologize to my freshman algebra teacher for dissing her notion that we "use Algebra every day".
As a side note, I liked math very much. I was very good at math. I hated word problems, until I got the hang of them (although why anyone would shove 50 watermelons in their car to travel 50km an hour east is beyond me), but I still enjoy math. However, I do not enjoy this kind of math. I just want to have someone say to me, yes, you are supposed to get 9 stitches to the inch, but you are getting 8.5, but you need the sock to be an inch bigger (I don't know--do I need this bigger with my 9 inch round foot?) so go for it.

In the end, I thought I'd try a different yarn. And I did and I think I am closer to gauge, but I still am worried about the sizing issue. Cue pretty yarn picture:

I know the swatches aren't big enough, but hey I swatched!

In the end, I decided to make a plain sock with the Modesock yarn because I love love love it. But I kept feeling like it was needing a little something. A cable maybe, but just something little. I started my toe up and had about 3 inches knit when the knitty surprises came out. I think I am in love with neldoreth. In fact, I think it will be perfect for this yarn. I am having trouble making the commitment and ripping. I am too lazy to try to figure out how to convert that pattern to a toe up. In essence, I am stuck. I should get over it, remind myself that my 3 inch sock is a true gauge swatch and even though it isn't washed (that swatch above is) I can probably still derive useful information out of my work.

What would you do? Would you rip the sock? Would you put the sock on a holder and start on the other end, to see if you liked the knitty pattern? Would you continue making a beautiful but plain sock? Tell me in the comments!

knitting funk

I have officially finished the dahlia cardigan and I even wore it. I think it is going to be a great spring and fall sweater (maybe even for cool summer evenings). And now I'm, well, stuck.

I don't have any thing in the works. I don't have any ideas. I don't have anything just begging to get made.

I have yarn! I mean I got some great sock yarn both for my birthday and for Christmas (quince and Co and Modeknits yarn). I have a gift card to my local LYS that I got for Christmas. But I am feeling a little burned out on socks. Perhaps it is because I have 2 weeks worth of socks already. I just finished a sweater, and so despite having three ideas for sweaters, I'm feeling a little sweatered out. I especially don't feel like taking on the cardigan that would make another great light sweater--the dollar and half cardigan. I'm hoping that my need for a hat or a scarf, or mittens is nearly over.

I asked my daughters if they wanted anything and of course they have a list. Yes, they'd love socks! They both also expressed a desire for a beret (one pink, one purple) and when I asked if they would wear a beret, One daughter replied--"Not to school! It would be my weekend beret!" The same daughter wanted a sweater, but not any old keep me warm sweater--no she wants a pretty sweater, like the one I just made for me. So, now I realize that love for ones children does not extend to picking up and knitting a second dahlia cardigan.

Socks though are a very real possibility. They are still growing enough that they have outgrown the last pair I made them. I worry a little that I'll get socks done just in time for summer and then they will outgrow those before fall. And of course, I'm not in a hurry to use up my fun sock yarn on still-growing feet. So I asked what colors, thinking I'd buy some more inexpensive sock yarn, and got one that wants lacy socks in a greenish yellow. The other wants purple. I think though, I’ll wait until summer for the socks--maybe aim for the first day of school or something—so they fit throughout the winter. I know if I start now, we’ll hit barefoot time within a month of completion.

No, really the only thing that is in any way striking my fancy is something felted. I don’t know exactly what though. A bag maybe? I have two small felted bags and that seems like plenty. I have felted slippers that I rarely wear, preferring my hard soled slippers. I keep thinking messenger bag. Maybe I’ll go with that.

As you can see, I am really really torn about what will be next on the needles. Maybe I need to knit some baby hats while inspiration strikes? Or penguin sweaters?

dahlia picture post

Cue fanfare trumpets

Cue drumroll

The dahlia cardigan is DONE.

Well unless by done you mean ends weaved in and blocked. Because I totally still need to finish that. Still, I think it was a good plan to add more onto the sides. Now I'll block it and decide if I am satisfied with the sleeves, which feel a bit short to me. But I leave you with pictures. Please notice that I have totally morphed into someone cool and hip.

I started this back in June, and took some massive breaks from it. US size 5 needles, Pattern is here. I used Sirdar Country style DK. I lost count of skeins. I still have most of one left. I may do more pictures after I block it.

Just a quick update

I picked up the Dahlia cardigan again. I ripped back the ribbing on the sides, and am knitting out 4 more inches or so. I'm hoping between that, blocking, and spring weather (promised to me by a wooly bear caterpillar --little lying bugs who also said this was going to be an easy winter) I'll have a nice sweater for those cool summer nights.

Recently, we had a special election to renew school funding and I signed up to be a poll watcher. What this meant was that I sat in my polling place for a few hours, checking to see if a group of people who committed to voting in favor, actually voted. It was promised to be dull work, and I was told to bring a book or something. I was also told, I couldn't talk with voters, especially before they voted, as my job was not to campaign. I brought my cardigan and sat in a corner. I swear at least 5 voters came up to me and wanted to know what I was working on and basically talk knitting. It was weird, how I suddenly went from being quiet and stay out of the way, into a distraction for one woman in particular who zeroed in on me BEFORE she voted. (Most people voted and then talked to me) It must have been ok though because I wasn't asked to leave and they kept letting me see the names.

Lesson learned: you want to start a revolution, bring your knitting.

Socks!!

I finished my socks. The ones on Ravelry I called my "Socks to take my mind off stuff" the "Stuff" being my Dahlia cardigan. I think I might have an idea about what to do next on that, so maybe this spring, I really will have a new sweater.

The yarn has flecks of silver, which didn't show up great from a distance, but sure made them fun to work on.

Details (needles, yarn etc.) have already been given. It is my favorite toe up pattern, by Ann Budd which was in Interweave Knits, Summer 2007.

screaming green socks--again

I can't remember if I mentioned that I had a few socks to repair or not the last time I wrote.  I did.  I had 3 pairs.  One pair needed darning to shore up a thin heel.  One pair had a hole that needed a patch and one pair.... well I should have probably pitched them.

This pair of socks, I had patched before and they are not even that old.

The socks in question are my screaming green socks, which as you can see from the ravelry project page I linked too were completed in July of 2011.

I featured them in an entry on darning.  I wrote about them multiple times (including here when I thought they might be too big.  They have felted slightly). And again, they had both a hole and a place that needed some darning.  I fixed them, but this is it.  This is the LAST time I am fixing this particular pair of socks.  They get another hole, and I'm .... doing something else with them.

The problem is, that I have a lot of the yarn leftover. I usually do have sock yarn leftover after making socks.  Usually not enough for a full pair.  And I've toyed with making multi-yarn socks, or fraternal twin socks, or something from all my leftovers.  But I don't know what.  I do know this, even though I have 49 grams of this left, it will never be a sock, as I cannot imagine that I'll ever be happy with a sock made out of this--even if I had enough for a full pair.  I still love the color, and I'd like to have something that bright and lively.  

sock it to me.

I almost forgot about rainbow loom. My girls both got rainbow looms for Christmas, and we had a fun fun time over their break watching youtube videos, and making things. Our favorite tutorials have come from Made by Mommy if for no other reason than we can pause it after a direction is given and say "yes, Mommy!" Cracks us all up. I only have one picture of a charm we made, but hopefully the girls will give me more of the gazillion pictures they took.

And yes, I did need my own loom. But it was good one on one time for each girl to do a video tutorial with me. And I gave the other girl whatever I made, so win win. Unless someone wants to buy me one of my own (along with 1 billion rubber bands).

I mentioned that I started a sock on the driving portions of our vacation. I finished one:

I love love love the colorway. Although you can not see the silver. I don't care. They match my favorite ugly green sweater and so I am looking forward to finishing the second sock. I probably should have made the cuff a tiny bit wider and longer. Oh well maybe the second sock!

The yarn is Kraemer yarns, silk and silver. Estate Green is the colorway name. I'm using my US 1 needles. I called them on ravelry, "Socks to take my mind off things" which is pretty much what they are doing. I need to make another big sock repair push though. One of my pairs recently blew a big hole and I fixed it right away and then felt so virtuous about it, I vowed to fix the other two socks that need repairs.

the great caramel post

One of the terrible things about my dropping off the blog map for the month of December (while everyone around me did Holidailies and wrote DAILY) is that I'm not really sure where to start back up. It would be great if I had a finished item to show, but I do not.

I wanted to finish the dahlia cardigan in time for Christmas. And I did, sort of. I am not crazy about the fit, and I have some adjustments to make, but I am also majorly frustrated, so I put it aside and picked up a sock to make it through my post-holiday travels. I have one sock done and the other started, so I'll report on that next time. Let my initial report say, this yarn has silver in it and it is exactly what I have needed to get through the dark days of winter. SPARKLY!

Mostly I wanted to deconstruct, mostly so I'll remember it, my sea salt caramel adventures.

This is the second Christmas I have made a batch of caramels from this recipe I clipped out of the Oprah Magazine. And yes you can mock me if you want. The recipe is here and they are really good. But I have learned some things about this recipe and so I'm putting them all out here so I'll remember them, and maybe you won't make my same mistakes.

Ok, I have made three batches of this stuff and they all had two things in common. First, they take a way bigger pan than you think. My best result came with my second biggest pan. Although I tried it in my biggest pan and that wasn't too shabby either. The reason? I guess all caramels do this, but that cream and sugar just acts like a huge volcano. Second, they all burned to some degree. I think I have a solution for that, which I will get to later.

First the differences:

Batch one did not set right. In fact batch one was more like a caramel spread than wrap up pop in your mouth caramels. And in making batches two and three, as well as reading on the internet, I have discovered why.
Batch one on cookies covered in chocolate--if like gives you gooey caramel, make these puppies (you can sort of see the burnt bits in this)
Have you clicked over to Oprah and seen the recipe yet? Well, if you had, you might have noticed that one of the ingredients it calls for is "one can of evaporated milk." But it turns out that Meijer at least sells 2 different sized cans! (and yes, I saw the comments section on this issue--and they are just WRONG). So this year in preparing to make batch two, I went to Meijer and bought the supplies, which mean that because I do not usually do the shopping, and I easily get overwhelmed at the store when people are pushing me (yes really--today I kicked an old lady's cart because she rammed into me in the checkout line) I bought what I thought was the only size can they made--a 7 oz size. ANd Lo and behold, batch #2 set.

Now, batch number two also was a little bit of a learning thing for me, because when the hot lava of sugar and cream threatened to boil over in my second biggest pan, I TURNED THE HEAT DOWN. Oh yes, this was an epiphany for me. It still had burned bits on the bottom, but not as many as batch one AND ironically as many as batch three. In fact, I was able to isolate the burned bits to one side of my pan and so eatprevent gift recipients from receiving burnt bits in their caramel. And also amazingly, the caramel set to a great texture.

Then we ran low on salted caramel for some reason, and I was implored by my husband to make another batch. And so HE bought the evaporated milk and he came home with the standard 14oz can. Now, I know the Oprah comments say the 14oz is what they meant, and one commenter says she raised the temp and used 12oz, but honestly I really think 7oz probably works better. I did some internet searching on this and found out that it isn't always the temp that effects the texture, but the milk products, which I guess makes sense. So for batch 3 I used 7 oz of evaporated milk. I got the consistency I wanted, but sadly, batch 3 also burned a bit more.

I think though, that the problem with the burning is something I can control. You see every other carmel recipe I've found has two steps, 1) you get your sugar syrup up to close to temp, and 2) you add your warmed but not boiling milk products and get it up to temp. So batch 4, which is coming as soon as I can justify eating so much caramel, perhaps after the dental work I need is complete. And I'll be trying a two step method. Hopefully, I'll remember to report back.

bread (a cop-out)

I just bought the last present I am going to buy, I have packed up the treats to send to school tomorrow, and I'm putting off an awkward e-mail. I didn't want to leave December with no entries, and I really wanted to write about all the baking and candy making, but eh energy. So instead, here is the collage picture I made of making my grandmother's Swedish Rye bread.

treats!

I have been spending a fair amount of time recently planning for my holiday baking. Every year I bake a bunch of goodies and use those to fill treat "baskets" for the girls' auxiliary teachers (math teach, social studies, art, PE, spanish, and the principal are all on the list). ANd then, if you've been reading a while, you know I like to knit something for the teachers.

This year one of my daughters has a male teacher, which means lacy scarf is out, but warm scarf remains a possibility. The other daughter has a very hip young teacher, and I have been racking my brain for some hip knit scarf. I have not made any progress with this, and had resigned myself to gift cards and maybe making each of them an ipad holder (since the school has provided ipads to the teachers and students ). You know though how sometimes something just comes along that blows all your plans out of the water in a totally cool way? Well that happened today when the girls each brought home a letter from their teachers, suggesting that in lieu of holiday gifts, they'd like to suggest a donation to a charity.

Ok not just any charity. Their classes have all been reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, which tells two stories, one of Salva in 1985 and Nya, in 2008. Both stories highlight the need for safe secure drinking water in a region often fraught with conflicts, sometimes over this very water. It is a really good book, and if you have never read it, I would encourage you to do so. Anyway Salva is a real person, who after escaping Sudan (sorry spoiler!) started a foundation to dig wells in South SudanWater for South Sudan is that charity, and the one the teachers would like to encourage. So even though there must have been a bunch of dust hitting us, as the kids told me this, I managed to choke out that yes, indeed we could do this. Knitting problem solved!

However, both girls were all sad about not giving teachers something. "Can we still bake?" they both asked. Oh yeah we can. If we didn't what would I eat all through December? This time, I think I'll make a more sizable portion for each of their teachers.

So now, I am concentrating on that list. So far, I have:
Hard candy in either a variety of fruit or peppermint. Or maybe fruit and peppermint, I have no idea.
Peppermint Marshmallows I made these last year and by the end, I was hoarding them.
Sea Salt carmels yes, this recipe was in Oprah magazine. I don't care. I made these last year and they didn't set so I ate them all myself to save anyone from eating them. They were particularly good on a trefoil cookie, covered in one melted dove dark chocolate. I think I need to cook them a little more this year
Truffles. Last year I wasn't happy with how they turned out. This year, I may dip them in milk chocolate. I'll try to update with this recipe and the recipe for the next item
Spiced Pecans. The recipe is from my husband's grandma, and I was sure I had shared it before, but I can't find it. Anyway, I love these, I have a batch in the freezer now because oatmeal tastes oh so good with them.

When I think about all these things, they are all good but the tastes don't really form any sort of theme. This, I tell you, bothers me. It really does because it feels like what it truly is, which is--here is a bunch of stuff I love making and eating--Merry Christmas! I suppose I shouldn't let that bother me, no one has ever said--yuck these don't have a theme. I couldn't get a hold of any trefoils this year either. Maybe I'll make a shortbread if the caramels don't come out again. Sound be a fun December.

Sewing

I wish there were progress to report on the dahlia cardigan. I wish there were knitting to show. I did finish the first sleeve, but then hesitated to start the second. A bunch of reasons held it up. One, I was scared that the sleeves might not be far enough apart to fit my arms. Second, the yarn I was using developed a huge tangle. I decided, thus, to take a break and use my knitting time to untangle the ball. That took a while, it was a huge mess. It did give me time to decide what I might do if indeed the arm holes are not far enough apart.

Instead, I've been doing more sewing as of late. An early snow weather day last week found me at the fabric store my MIL makes samples for (she needed to show off her grand babies). Each girl was bribed with a fat quarter (they love them) and while they decided, I found some fabric I needed. And then I found a cute pattern for a bag.

The pattern you can see at the whistlepig website. it is this iPad carry case. It seemed like fate when I realized I had a frequent buyer card that made the pattern and all the fabric for it $3!

Of course I didn't actually get to start on it until I had completed Barbie dresses for each girl.

The green was a fat quarter purchased that day, the red came from my daughter's stash. (grandma does this often)

My fabric had to wait until everyone went back to school. So far I have it cut.

Hopefully, I'll get more done soon. I was thinking that if this pattern works well it might, in a different color, make a good teacher gift.

My first (major) knitting project

I have already told the story of how I learned to knit from my grandmother when I was 11 or 12. The headband I made is still in use to hold hair back while washing my face, or applying moisturizer. (You can read the story), but basically due to impatience on both my grandma's and my part, I didn't knit anything again for 20 years.

I wanted to write more about that project,because I felt this sense of connection to my grandma as she taught me to knit. It is kind of hard, though, for me to write much about my grandma in November. Not only did she pass away in November, but I spent much of that last November thinking that she "wouldn't survive the night." In the end, I decided I'd pick up after the 20 year hiatus.

So, almost eleven years ago I found myself 400 miles away from all of my family, with infant twin girls. After a really rough first year of motherhood, my wonderful husband wanted to gift me for my birthday with some sort of "fun get out of the house class type thing." He gave up trying to surprise me, in part because he was kind of stumped as to what I would like. It just so happened that he was looking at quilting classes at a store that also offered "learn to knit." I'm not sure what made me say--This! I want to relearn to knit. Maybe it was remembering that closeness I felt when my grandma tried teaching me a skill that she had. I wanted a skill I could someday teach to my children or grandchildren.

So off I went with a ball of acrylic yarn and US size 8 needles to my first class. Over the next four weeks we learned to knit, to cast on (cable and knit cast ons), to purl, to decrease, to yarn over, and to bind off. We learned how to read patterns. We made dishcloths!

I don't use dishcloths, but I made several of the two patterns we learned. I gave dishcloths to my mom, who did use them. I did keep the first two though.

Where the story gets more interesting is here. I finished the class, knowing all the basic skills and having only made 4 dishcloths (plus the 20 year old headband) and I decided to knit a sweater. Actually two sweaters, one for each of my now toddling daughters. I asked the instructor on the last class if that was even a thing I could do at this point and she gave me wise wise words of advice:

Take the pattern one step at a time.

Sure, there are a whole page of directions but really the first step? Cast on. After that one step at a time.

So I went to the library and browsed patterns from books and found this great Debbie Bliss book. Then I didn't write down the name of the book or the pattern, so it is forgotten through time. I balked at buying *that* much baby cashmerino and so found a cheaper and more washable yarn substitution. Of course not knowing anything about what baby cashmerino felt like, I picked instead a sock yarn in baby colors and then had to go up to size 3 or 4 needles to "get gauge." So yes, I got gauge, but the fabric that it created was much looser and airier than what the original pattern called for. And since I didn't get row gauge (because really how could I--the yarn I picked was so much thinner than baby cashmerino) they ended up a little bigger than I intended. But hey, the longer to fit them in right? Um yeah.

Tip: don't just match the stitch gauge, but attempt to get row gauge too.

Yarn substitution tip: Try to match your yarn to the other characteristics of the original yarn They came out huge. I think I made the 2T size and they look like maybe 4T. Also, even though I was "careful" about the sleeve directions, I ended up with four sleeves that were all different lengths. The funny part? every sleeve was too long. Every single one. In this picture I have lined up the sleeves at the top.

My knitting instructor invited all of us to come in and visit her during the store's holiday open house later that year, and I asked her how to get the sleeves to all come out the same length. Her tip was:

Knit both sleeves at the same time

I have done this and it does really work if you are the kind of person who forgets to decrease when you are supposed to. Although if you are the kind of person who gets yarn tangled up, then it may not work that well for you.

In the end though, learning to knit was about trying to recapture some of that closeness that I felt with my grandma. And perhaps make things that would make my family feel loved and warm. And even though the first sweaters didn't quite come out the way I would have wanted them to, knitting has given me so much. Not just (eventually) warm knitted stuff, but also the closeness I wanted. I don't have pictures of my grandma and I knitting, and I don't have pictures of my daughters and I knitting. But I do have one of my mom and I knitting. And you can tell we are having a blast with it.

Submitted for Knitting Daily's Blog it to win it contest

The Prizes I picked are:
Penny the panda kit

Ashbury knitted mitts kit in hunter

Best of Knitscene

Sockupied one sock two ways firefly kit

2006-2011 Interweave knits Holiday gifts CD collection

I picked the above prizes for various reasons. I have a panda girl, I love knitscene, and it is time to start making holiday gifts.

halloween recap

Ahhh November! A time to gracefully make the transition from "pumpkin all the things" to "peppermint all the things." A time to go from the craziness of Halloween costumes, into the craziness of Christmas gifts.

But before we make that transition, there are some ends to tie up. So without further ado, here is the rundown/smackdown of the Halloween costume craziness.

Ever since Nov. 1, 2012, one of my daughters has been wanting to be Hermione Granger for Halloween. And this did not waver (as it does with her sister who has wanted to be statue of liberty, a toothbrush, a penguin, a flamingo, and a tube of toothpaste--all in the last 3 months!) and so this is how I came to find myself weeping in frustration in Joann's In early September. Every year of the last 15 years there has been a pattern for some version of Harry Potter. Sure they might call it magical wizards, but you and I know that it is Harry. Sadly, this is the year that every pattern company decided no one wanted to be Harry Potter (although tell that to the TWO other girls in my daughter's class who ALSO went as Hermione). But hey no biggie right, Hermione needs a grey vest, a white shirt, a grey skirt, a gryffendor tie, and a robe. How hard can this be? Well. I started strong by finding the perfect skirt pattern. Then I found a great sweater vest/white shirt combo at Salvation army. Eventually, I found an adult robe pattern (yes, only adults now want to be Harry Potter evidently--as this was entitled something like "Wizarding world!"). I decided to fake it on the tie, and found bias tape in the perfect shades. I even had my MIL print out the Gryffendor crest of fabric, which I fused to the robe!

The skirt was to be my undoing. The skirt pattern was up to a girls size 14, but pattern sizes often bear little or no resemblance to "real" sizes (by this I mean sizes of clothes you can buy). And thusly neither of my girls is little enough to be a size 14--despite the fact that they both wear that size. I had my Tim Gunn moment, in which I decide to make it work even if I needed to work every spare moment the last week. And then! OK back up a little here.

One weekend, I was frustrated with the general state of the house, and my inability to actually sew on weekends (do you KNOW how many barbie clothes will be requested if I get within a foot of my sewing machine when the girls are home?) I decided to clean out my closet and once and for all stop kidding myself about some of the items in there. One such item: My interview suit. When I was first out of Graduate school, I splurged on the perfect librarian suit in which I would interview and land the perfect librarian job. That was 20 years ago. I am neither that size nor that style anymore and furthermore: I never will be. Well, I may be that size again, but I doubt I'll want the huge shoulder pads. Heck, I get that size again and need a suit, I'll splurge again! So I dumped it in the bag and set the bags in the basement awaiting a trip to Goodwill.

In my frustration over the skirt, I passed that goodwill bag and it hit me! That skirt is grey. That skirt should fit my daughter! That skirt would work in a pinch. And guess what--the day before Halloween IS a pinch. And lo and behold it did. And so I present Hermione with a candy corn over her face because this is the Internet:

The other daughter is a tad indecisive. But I make them decide when patterns go on sale in early September. And she did waffle a little, but I talked her into this adorable teen monster . (as an aside, do you want to know how whack pattern sizing is. This pattern which to me looks so tweenish--was barely big/wide enough for my admittedly tall 10 year old) She of course wanted her own spin. One eye please, in green and pink and blue. And aside from the silky fur making a huge mess, this went together easily. And even with that mess, I would totally make this again.

Seriously, how cute is that!

She is happy--even though I put a smiley over her face.

And now trick or treating is over (we being of strong stuff and never postpone halloween for a little rain! And thankfully, it was only a little rain--despite the deluge and gale force winds predicted) and we can move on to the craziness of Christmas.

progress

Part of me hesitates to update since I do not want to take the time to take some photos and upload them. And what is a craft blog without some photos of craft? But alas, if this is going to be updated, it probably needs to be photo-less. So I present you with a photo free project update.

Halloween costumes: I started late this year. I have two costumes to make: a monster and Hermione Granger. The monster had a vest, skirt, leg warmers and mitts. All sewed. All with a pattern. Hermione, oh sigh. For years I've seen patterns for Harry Potter characters, but the year my daughter wants to be Hermione, there are none. So, I'm faking it. Hermione needs a skirt, a tie, and a robe. I bought a grey vest/white shirt. I looked for a tie in the right colors, but couldn't find one. I did buy this pattern for the robe. I also bought a plain skirt pattern, so I could make it to match the grey in the sweater I bought. I decided that I'd make the tie out of bias tape.
So that said as of today, I have the monster costume done with the small exception of velcro on the vest. I have also learned that Silky fur fleece will make your house look like you murdered a muppet. But now the sewing room has been thoroughly vacuumed. I am starting on the robe very soon.

Dahlia sweater: I have the sides finished which means that I am hesitating. Why am I hesitating? Well, the next step is to unzip the afterthought spots for the sleeves. At that point I need to do two things:
Try it on and make sure it is long enough and
Read the pattern

Hopefully, I'll get past both of these, because I really want the sweater!

progress

I think I have said before that I am real product knitter. Sure I like the process, I find the endless stockinette soothing at times, I find socks to be this great way to achieve a particular kind of meditation, BUT what I like best is that at the end of all that, I get a new sweater or pair of socks. And often times I pick projects because I really really want that thing--be it socks or sweaters or scarves.

This is why I started knitting the dahlia cardigan way back in... gosh Ravelry says June! I wanted that sweater for the early fall when you don't need (I almost spelled need "kneed" as if every N sound needs the silent k because knit and knitter and knitting all have it. I KNOW!) a heavy wool sweater, but you do need something light to throw on to make that transition. I thought of course that it would be done by the time the weather turned.

Well the weather has turned, and every day for the last week I have thought I need my Dahlia cardigan. I even saw at Kohl's a sweater that was similar in construction (without a fancy lace back --but still a lace back) and nearly bought it (darn that Kohl's cash!). I held back because "Dude! you are almost done with that puppy!"

Except I'm not. I just started last night the edging on the left front. I still have SLEEVES to make for pete's sake! And that's if I made the fronts long enough.

I did put lifelines in. I may be stupid, but I learn from my mistakes.

Mainly I've been busy working on halloween costumes. I feel totally far behind, I wanted to finish one costume up this week, and while technically I have 2 days before the week is up, my children do not have school today, so week over! I will leave you with a peek of how messy the fabric is for the costume I had hoped to finish.

This is what I looked like after cutting the pattern out.

Dahlia

I was going to write this entry in the car dealership while waiting for them to diagnose the "weird burning smell" (front axel bearing thingy), but there were too many people in the waiting room to whip out my computer and start typing madly away. I could have knit and people watched too, but these were the most boring people ever. I read my book instead.

I am steadily working away on my Dahlia cardigan, I currently have one side done and I am working towards getting to the other side.

I have had a lot of ups and downs with this sweater. First off the center panel took forever for me to make it past the 7th row. Things kept slipping off the needles or getting twisted or what have you. I conservatively estimate that it took me 20 tries to get past row 7. Then I had trouble because of gauge.

What happened was that because of the construction of the sweater and because the center lace panel turned out so big, it meant that bottom and top panels that I used to check gauge were so tall that the sweater would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 23 inches from my neck to where it ended. Basically a HUGE droopy sweater. Obviously, I didn't want a huge droopy sweater, so I went and looked really hard at the pattern and figured, hmmm I can kind of wing this! So that's what I did.

If you want to have a better idea of what I'm talking about, you should check out the Interweave knits blog post on it. What I decided was that the little strips that you knit separately and then join to the life stitches of your lace panel to create a huge opening that then becomes the side, well those could be shorter. Like shorter than the smallest size. The only rub would be figureing where the afterthought sleeve should go.

So I eyeballed it.

and I don't think i did terrible, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. So guess what? I ripped it out. And I started over. I left the top section as it was, but I made the bottom section as long as the smallest size. I had the armhole where I wanted it, so I just figured out where that would be with the new size and bam I was knitting. Knitting stockinette over a huge number of stitches.

(Sorry about the picture quality, but I actually want to finish this entry).

I'm now starting to make my way to the other side. Although, I broke one of the needles I was using (sat on it--or rather kneed it) AGAIN. Also the miles of stockinette looming ahead is making me wish for a car trip or something.

Just in time to start using all my free time on Halloween.

Fixing a shirt or two

What I did on my summer vacation part 2.

Maybe you all know this, but if you shop at Kohl's during set times and you spend $50 or more you get $10 Kohl's cash to redeem later. Maybe you think this is a scam. Maybe you've been at the checkout and your total came to $46 and you were tempted to run back for one more thing. Well, this summer I discovered that if you come back with your $46 receipt later and buy $4 they will give you the Kohl's cash. I discovered this when I did this and the next day decided that while my girls were in camp, I would buy them each a shirt from the slut juniors section. I picked what I thought was an innocuous enough shirt--a v-neck that says Hogwarts. Bought two and skedaddled.

So imagine my horror when I discovered V-neck in juniors section means cleavage bearing. How low was it?

That's one daughter wearing it with a shirt underneath.

But at this point there is no returning them (not the least of which was the Kohl's cash) because both girls are in LOVE with the idea of owning a Harry Potter Hogwarts shirt! And really the shirts fit every where else. So I got a little creative.

First I took the shirts to the fabric store and found, to my delight, t-shirt fabric in the exact same yellow!

Is that a match or what?!

I bought half a yard, but really I only needed a quarter. I then hemmed one end and sewed it across the v-neck.

We won't mention that I had that color of thread. I did though--isn't THAT crazy.

Then I basically sewed all along the edges were the original stitching was--along the pin line here:

I wish I had an after picture, because it turned out great. Both girls love these shirts, neither looks provocative, and my mother in law actually asked me what the problem was with the shirts--she hadn't realized I had FIXED them.

I do have to add though that I am majorly disappointed with the juniors section at Kohl's. My girls are 10, they are tall for their age and are aging out of children's clothes really fast. The juniors section is full of short shorts and these v-necks and camis. We actually had better luck for shirts in the petite section--although many of those are kind of matronly. There has to be in my mind a middle ground, otherwise I'm not sure I'll ever shop enough to get Kohl's cash again.

P.S. Spent my KC on a new vacuum that I think I love more than I should.

canning

One of the problems of not blogging for a long time, is that you aren't sure if you should start withe the projects you finished in your absence or the projects you are working on now. At least that's my problem. I think though I'll solve it by dealing with the now and hopefully catching up now that I have more time.

Oh who am I kidding, every summer it is the same for me. I spend summers with the children, being present, doing things and not really spending too much time in front of the computer. I put off all non-essential stuff saying--I'll get to it when school starts. And then school does start and I spend September rushing around like mad catching up from the last three months of neglect.

So we had lots of fun this summer, and I have two projects I want to write about at a later time, but now I want to talk about the issue that has taken over my life lately: canning.

Maybe this always happens and I just don't notice it but this year peaches AND tomatoes are both in high season at the same time. Last year I canned both for the first time ever and let me tell you--it was a long hard winter rationing out the peaches and tomatoes. So this year, I decided to make more. Last Saturday we purchased a bushel of peaches from our favorite orchard Christofferson Farms(sorry facebook link), and I spent labor day and the first day of school chopping, peeling, pitting and canning.

How many peaches in a bushel you say?

After filling 15 cans, I had only made a dent:

So maybe a bushel was going overboard. Maybe.

For the record, I had done a small batch a few weeks ago, and a batch of honey spiced peaches too. I gave away 2 jars of the first batch in a thank you basket I made for an aunt who invited us to spend a few days at her cottage on Lake Michigan so I have now 31 jars of regular peaches, and three honey spiced.

I made one batch of jam earlier too. I have enough peaches left to either freeze, make more jam, or make lassi for dinner tonight (to go with the eggplant curry (you can see the eggplant in the first picture).

One thing I like about canning, besides what people usually say they like about canning (it tastes better, you know what is in it, no metal cans, etc.) is how it gives me a real appreciation for the past. Particularly women of my grandmother's generation, who canned from their gardens to support their families. Canning is hard--I estimate I spent 6 hours on those 30 jars (all pints). My back ached, my fingers got chapped, and I was stuck at home on some really nice cool days. And all those jars? Well we eat basically a quart at a sitting between the four of us, so that's two pints every time we have them. So those 30 jars represent 15 meals. Out of how many in a year? I could never ever can enough food to exclusively feed us. And I don't think my ancestors did either--although I'm sure they ate less. But it gives you a real appreciation for just how much work can go into feeding your family.

Today I am off to pick tomatoes at our CSA. I love love love our CSA. In addition to the fresh vegetables (and melons) grown and handed out every week (buffet style so you don't get stuck with tons of stuff you don't like--even though I do it like a buffet and sample), during high season you can go out to the farm and pick if you are putting up. So a month ago, people who pickle could go out and pick bushels of cucumbers. I don't pickle. I do make sauce and can tomatoes though so, now that tomatoes are bountiful, I get to do the real farm to table thing.

summer update

I have my adjustments made on the dahlia cardigan, but I don't have time at the moment to photograph it and detail the ideas. I'm knitting away though, and perhaps next week when my children go to camp for three whole days, I'll have time to write an entry with pictures about actual knitting (although who knows, they are in camp 18 total hours, and I already have 20 hours worth of stuff I want to do while they are gone).

We have been crafting though. I bribed encouraged my children to participate in our running program last week by offering to buy 2 colors of dye and white t-shirts if they would run all three days with no complaining. We made it mostly and so on Saturday we had tie-dye day. Of course tie-dye day is only fun if you invite ALL your friends (glad I bought the 5 pack of t-shirts). It was "the most fun ever!" according to the participants. It wasn't bad for me either even though I did all the hard work and clean up. These are the evidence of the best day. faces cropped/blurred, t-shirts still wet (and vivid. They faded a bit in the wash)

I have two children, but for some reason only one picture would upload to flickr.:

The other thing we are doing a lot of is watching turkeys stroll through the neighborhood:

They scared a jogger just minutes after I took these, he did the wildest double take!

And of course, we love butterflies here. Usually we don't get a lot of different species in town. I think all the pesticides/herbicides/heavy weeding that happens in town (plus mowing, we don't have meadows) means that it is rare to see much beyond white sulfurs. Although we have also seen eastern tiger swallowtails. Generally we don't get too close. Today though we caught this guy:

We photographed him/her and released. My butterfly book, entomologist friend, and google all agree: red spotted purple admiral

summer update

I have a short 15 minutes before I need to get lunch together for the children. That's how summer has been. One long meal prep followed by cleanup and then meal prep again.

Ok it isn't quite that bad, mostly, we do a lot of stuff in the mornings, including prep stuff for supper, and then head out to the pool for the afternoons. But it does feel like I am spending a lot of time on food. And these next few weeks it will go into hyper overload with corn to be frozen and peaches to be dealt with in addition to the very regular meals. I've already tackled strawberries (5 batches of freezer jam and a half batch of strawberry lemonade), and cherries (one batch of jam, and I lost count how many quarts frozen for crisp)

In the evenings after the kitchen is tidied (doesn't that sound domestic), I've been chilling with my knitting. I finished the lace panel for the Dahlia sweater:

And as expected from someone who didn't "take time to check her gauge" it is a bit bigger than the pattern suggests. I have a 16X17 inch "square" instead of the 13 inch they recommend. I did check gauge (by knitting up the next two pieces) and turns out that I really need to do some reworking. If I continue and make what the pattern says, I'll end up with a sweater that is 29 inches long on the back. So, I need to make the pieces shorter. At least I think I do. I need to read a little more ahead and see if I can figure out the construction.

I'm hoping that I can get it worked out because I really want this sweater.

In the meantime, I leave you with the turkey mama and her two getting bigger babies that wandered through the backyard today. They live somewhere in the neighborhood, as this is about the 3rd visit we've had.

summer sweater

Most people knit socks in the summer. And I like knitting socks, don't get me wrong, but this summer, I thought I'd try something a little different: a sweater.

*So I cast on for the dahlia cardigan. And then I made a mistake and had to rip that out. repeat from * 8 times.

It starts as a provisional cast on--no problem. With 4 stitches: no problem. Increase to 8: no problem, Join in the round and start the lace pattern: problem. I actually think the fact that it was 8 stitches and trying to manage 3 dpns and yarn over was some sort of issue.

After like 10 tries I got to the point in the lace where I thought I finally had it, but then was off 2 stitches. I think that was row 5 or something.

Finally I made it to row 7, was again off a stitch but was able to tink back to the error. And so now I have the beginnings of the center medallion:

I am hoping to get past all the tricky stuff before we have another long car trip. And I'm hoping to finish this in time for cooler weather. We'll see. Right now I haven't even decided which size I'm going to make, I thought I'd see how big my medallion turned out. How's that for disaster waiting to happen?