handknitbyafailedfeminist

Freerange knitting

2011-05-09T02:35:00.001-07:00

So I am back to knitting the infamous sock yarn baby blanket, and it turns out to be the perfect project for the folding chair on the side of kiddie sports. With baseball and lacrosse, I may get this done. Right now I am hoping to make it a stroller size blanket. Its about 24 inches square. I think it will be done somewhere around 30 -36 inches. So probably in the fall, maybe during field hockey?

Long day

2011-03-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

Today has officially made me its bitch. I surrender. Uncle. Make it stop. I took my middle child (10) to a sub shop in town, no biggie. Until the argument between a man and woman in the parking lot turned really ugly. All the sudden the man was shoving the woman and getting really menacing. I was at the door, sent my daughter back to the table and yelled for the restaurant staff to call 911. A high school aged boy who worked there tried to go out and intervene but I stopped him. Someone handed me the phone and I called 911. The woman came back into the restaurant and the police showed up. Next thing I knew the man was in handcuffs, the police were there and my poor daughter was hysterical. I comforted her while I was still shaking. All this in our sleepy town. So disturbing! I feel like it was the best outcome in a really awful situation. At least my daughter knows that we help others no matter what. But I still want my day of rest back.

Finished

2011-03-26T18:35:00.001-07:00

Sophie's scarf is finished and she promptly stashed in a pile in her room. Makes one doubt it will ever be worn. Oh well, at least she can't say I never made her anything. Now to get back to finishing off the languishing projects.
And there are plenty of baby things to be knit for all the pending babies.

New scarf

2011-03-18T18:31:00.001-07:00

My sunday swing socks bored me to tears. We are on a break. I started a mindless ribbed scarf with knit picks chroma in mix tape and bittersweet heather. My take on the famous noro striped scarf from Jared Flood.
In unrelated news, there is a freaking mouse running around my house, and my cat is trying to help me out. When the kids saw the cat/mouse they shrieked until the mouse ran. My husband tried to help by knocking the tv with the broom, much to the detriment of the tv. Mouse is still alive and well.

Disenchanted

2011-03-12T17:45:00.001-08:00

Well, I couldn't be less interested in my current knitting. Its zipless knitting, not in a good way. Its about to go to the frog pond. Last picture before riiiiiip.

New start

2011-02-26T19:21:00.001-08:00

So I have been contemplating the vastness of my mostly finished objects and it leaves me wondering why the hell I stop when I am about 90% done....and I deal with my wonderment by starting a new project. My new goal is to at least document the specs so when I try tho finish this up I will at least have a reference point for when I quit. So in the interest of documentation...this is knitty sunday swing sock pattern done in knit picks stroll tonal in Queen Anne's lace.

Lenore sock part 3

2011-02-21T17:43:00.001-08:00

So I decided to go through and finish some ufos and had success with one pair of reggia socks for my son. Less progress with the lenore sock (last posted on november 3, 2007). I can't find the freaking pattern and I don't think I can bring myself to rebuy it. Grrr..maybe I can fake it?

Done

2011-02-20T17:21:00.001-08:00

Ends woven in, soaked and blocking. Now the big question is what to knit next. I have many baby gifts to make and a fair number of unfinished objects but there are also some newthings I am interested in. maybe I need to sleep on it. Some of the wonkieness seems to have blocked out but will see how it looks on.

Frustrated much?

2011-02-19T17:12:00.001-08:00

Oh well turns out cutting the steeks was the easy part. Picking up the stitches and doing the ribbing has been a colossal pain in the butt. Adding to my already deficient counting skills, the color changes plus the screaming children have made today a virtual tink fest. And this baby better have some magic in the blocking cause there are some seriously wonky bits.

Can we make this easy

2011-02-17T14:46:00.001-08:00

Well its been a long time. Work, family and live interfered with knitting among blogging but now I can do this from my phone! Pretty cool. So I will try to catch up by posting pictures of recent knitting from my sd card. Starting with current project which is the ivy league vest done in knit picks pallette yarn.

no writing does not equal no knitting

2008-09-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

I want to try to keep this going so, here some stuff I knit when I wasn't writing. Those are baby socks from yarn I dyed with easter egg tabs. And the blanket is sort of made up log cabin foolishness with an endless icord border. Its lorna's laces vera colorway, don't recall the contrasting color name. The colors were gorgeous but the yarn was a royal pain, with several knots per skein & a complete gauge change from worsted to sock! More stuff soon, I hope!

Cue the cricket sounds

2008-01-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

Don't equate the lack of writing with the lack of knitting. Since my last post I have knit one full pair of socks and two single socks, one of which I subsequently frogged. I made a pair of socks for DH in knit picks felici, which he wore endlessly untill I begged him to take them off so they could be washed. I started a pair of noro socks, got up to the leg and was teased by my SnB friends because it looked odd. It did fit but I had concerns about the guage and feel of the fabric. I frogged the sock and am considering washing the yarn before I knit it. And now I am making a pair of baudelaire socks from knit picks essential tweed. Pics to follow.

finished objects

2007-12-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

This is the baby surprise jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman done in Lion Branc wool. The first picture is before it got sewn up.This picture is after sewing and felting.

And lastly, the finished mittens with added Icord so I don't lose them.

Happy Hanukah

2007-12-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

In honor of hanukah, I hand grated 5 pounds of potatoes and fried them in oil. The only casualty was the pepper grinder that fell into the boiling oil, splashing oil everywhere and ruining the pepper grinder (but not the latkes). Luckily I was wearing an apron, so I was not injured. And of course the whole thing would not have happened without the assistance of my DH who thought it would be good to reach over the stove to get whatever... and kaboom!

I have been knitting and even finishing stuff, I will post pics soon. I have some serious starteritis, there are at least three single socks in my house, some have nearly finished mates.

world's lamest UFO

2007-11-15T17:02:00.001-08:00

So I started these mittens a hundred years ago (okay at least three years ago). I put them down with everything but one thumb done, and there they sat and sat. I don't know why. So I dragged them out and decided it was time for mittens. I knitted a huge icord string to keep them together and am now slogging through the last thumb. I mean I wish I knew what I was thinking or if thinking was involved.

Today is my little guy's fourth birthday. I can't believe it! Also today, one of the kids I work with needed some help in his class with a craft project so I was helping him. At some point he touched my hand and he said "Your hand doesn't match your hair. Your hair is old and your skin is young". You have to love a kid with PDD for a backhanded compliment!

Lenore

2007-11-03T12:08:00.003-07:00

Well, after several failed attempts and untold use of inappropriate words, I have kicked Lenore's ass. The color is pretty accurate, but the pattern looks a little flat here. The center line is a yo, sl 1, k2tog, psso, yo and it has a lot to texture that my photo does not show.

I also washed and blocked the carolis socks I made for a sockapalooza person who never received their socks. They will get mailed tomorrow. I loved the color but I don't think I am a fan of Lorna'a Laces Shepard sock. I have really enjoyed other LL yarns, but I think I prefer a sock yarn with more twist.

Other than that life is chugging along. My 11 year old daughter's 6th grade teacher resigned without much explanation and the school managed to screw it up even more. They told the kids on Halloween before communicating with the families. Then they had the school psychologist "process" with the kids as a group and in some cases individually, again without parental input. As a school social worker and as a mom, I am appalled. At the least, I would have not let her ride the bus all sad - I would have picked her up if I had any notice. There is a special place in hell for the teacher, who though she was young really should have known better and done better. She came from three generations of women who taught for more than twenty years each so I think she should have known whether or not this was right for her. Also, since I work in the school world I really think that the 10 month commitment is pretty sacred, and even the worst fit in a job can be tolerated for 44 weeks, especially since 10 weeks were done already. I think the kids can't help but feel bad, they liked her and they had no chance to say goodbye.

sooo frustrated

2007-10-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

I got the new sock club package from Blue Moon and it is great! Its a semi solid, black over red. The Pattern is called Lenore, and was written by the Yarn Harlot. I was so excited that I dumped what I was doing and cast on. I got to the third row and had a problem (with the count and the tension), so I started over. Then I cast on again, got to the fifth row and my count was off. I tried to tink but it got to be a mess so I ripped it back. And then I cast on again and it seemed okay but I had to rip again.

I posted my problem on sock knitters, and I hope that someone can help me. This is giving me bad memories of the black aran sweater I tried in college that put me off knitting for several years. The dark color makes it really hard to read the stitches. I have been working in good light, but its hard!

To Rhinebeck or Not

2007-10-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

For me Rhinebeck is turning into a logistical mess. My husband is sick, and therefore not reliable for child care. I am not sure that I want to do more driving with kids. I could live without spending money on yarn. If I DON'T spend money on yarn, I won't feel guilty about rejoining STR Club. I am edging into the don't go column. Now I heard that the weather may suck. Its really hard to live so close and not go. I will have to think on it.The picture is from last year, with the medium and small kids. The large kid stayed home and was sorry. We did have fun.

Still knitting the Carolis socks for my sock savee (I guess that's the word for the recipient of your savior socks). Hope she will like them, it really takes some getting used to - since the pattern is really different than your standard sock.

The Sanctity of Marriage

2007-10-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well, Plastic Pam has married some ridiculous turd of a man whose claim to fame is being in the Paris Hilton sex tape. This is her third. Makes me so glad that the conservatives are fighting to honor this most holy of unions. I mean really how can any one expect gays and lesbians to keep this institution as fresh and clean as the straight people have. I give it six months.

Busy Day

2007-10-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

I spent about an hour setting up some stuff on ravelry. It was suprisingly easy. I set up my flikr account, and was able to add some projects to my note book. I started adding yarn to my stash, but that will be a big project. There's a lot of yarn in my stash, and I want to take photos. My ravelry name in Lindapt2. I am very pleased that I was able to save a photo for my profile there, since I have never been able to do it on blogger despite several attempts.

I had a real muggle moment today. I was trying to explain ravelry to my mom. This is difficult because she doesn't understand the computer or the internet and she actually hates knit socks. SO you may wonder why I felt the need to explain a cool web site that is letting me catalog my sock yarn and sock projects. I wonder that two. I love my mom but I must say that our dynamic has often been my continuing to return to the empty well for a drink of water. So she was not impressed that I am spending time online doing stuff that relates to knit socks. She has other fine qualities!

Happy Dance

2007-10-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

My sockapalooza pal can finally do a happy dance. The third sock made it through the hell that is the Canadian Postal service safely. Now I learned several things

The cheaper postage works better and saves money!

The reason smart knitters write down what they do for each project is so they know if they need to replicate it. Duh!

It feels good to get the task complete even when it takes extra effort.

And I have the satisfaction of knowing that a new friend in the North doesn't have an odd sock hanging out. Those odd socks make me crazy. I can't bring myself to throw them away because when I do the mate always shows up.

I finally got my ravelry invite, but haven't had the time to set up my account or explore the site. I hear there is much socky goodness there, so I can't wait.

The picture is of my friendly neighborhood bear. I discovered that after his attack on my trash can, there were huge claw marks on the can. Spooky!

In knitting I am working on a sock savior pair using the carolis pattern. It will be my first full pair using Cat's book. I made a cute baby carolis just for practise!

where do the days go?

2007-09-26T14:16:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't been writing but I have done some knitting. I would show you but I am having blogger issues. I made two of the practise socks from the new Cat Bordi book, a pair of sidewinder peds for my niece at Penn state, the replacement sock for my sockapalooza pal (thank you Canadian Customs!), and a square for a group project. You can't see them (thanks, Blogger). I also had some excitement in the form a bear that came up to my front door, knocked over the garbage and threw it all over my yard. The local wildlife people said they only come out if its a nuisance, clearly we do not share the same definition of the word nuisance. DH is out of state for two weeks, which leaves me with no plan B for childcare. My next knitting is going to be a pair of socks for someone whose sockapalooza pal crapped out on her, so they are rescue socks. I am think about yarn and choices. I really wanted to do a pair from the new cat bordi book, but this gal lives in California and a lot of those socks are pretty thick for a Cali girl! I would use fixation but I am kind of tired of it sine I just made a third fixation sock. Hmmnn. I may have to go shopping in my yarn closet!

On a lighter note, one of the kids at the school I work at have a real yarn obsession and he likes to play with lengths of yarn (to the distraction of his peers and the detriment of his work). He is on the autism spectrum. Today he was talking about how mad he was that I hadn't let him play with yarn during group therapy, and I told his teacher that I thought he might like me if he knew how much yarn was at my house! I understand the love of yarn but I always want to knit with it.

Cat Bordhi's book

2007-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Lets just get this over with. Clearly Cat is a genius. Her mind is capable of innovation and understanding things in unique ways. But I am scratching my head. I just bought her new sock book. It is gorgeous, the samples are gorgeous, the yarns are gorgeous. Some of the socks are not my taste, but all are gorgeous. The book is huge! I don't love the binding because I know that I will wear it out or break the spine. I may have it spiral bound. But that lady must have the world's coldest feet. Some of those socks are super thick, some are double stranded. I don't think I could fit them in shoes. My goal for this book is to knit the sample baby sized socks and see what I can use or adapt from the methods. I have to say that there are some seriously cool toes to try!

In other socks, I have about 27 grams of the cascade fixation left to re knit the lost broad ripple sock. Sucks that I need 33! DH realized that the job in California was turning into a choice between his career and his family. He chose family but not without putting me through the ringer. He is sulking. Poor man lacks a sympathetic audience for the sulking show!

The mystery of the missing sock

2007-09-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well, some how between the geniuses at the United States Postal Service and their brethren to the north, the Canadian Postal service my sock pal received her socks a little worse for the wear. The package I sent priority fro $17 (promised in 6-10 days) arrived at her home on September 2nd. The box was smashed, and the contents were disturber, very disturbed. She received 1.5 pairs of hand knit sock, yes that's right three socks. Two Baudelaire and one broad ripple. Socks are less effective when not in pairs. So she is trying to track the missing sock, I am looking for my left overs from the yarn to see if it is enough for another sock. Sigh. Check out her account of the mystery.

OTN- the second sidewinder ankle sock for my niece.

much tsuris

2007-09-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

That's yiddish for angst. I spent most of the week twisting my psyche in knots, but finally realized that for very many reasons - there was no way I believed this opportunity was right for my family. I hope DH would get there but he remained 100% positve about all this. I finally had to say no so we (by this I mean him) are in a deep stage of simmering in bitter resentment. I hope that he comes around, but in the end I felt like I could not make that CA situation work for the family. Gulp!

sock pics

2007-09-01T12:42:00.001-07:00

Just so you know that in addition to not being in the photo, I am also not eating ice cream. This is the family enjoying frozen custard in bethany beach, de.

This is the cuff of the monkey socks I made for my daughter. The colors are indeed bright and nearly impossible for me to photograph well. My only change in the pattern was the addition of the picot cuff, for me my default cuff! Right now I am working on a sideways footie for my niece. That and in non-knitting, I am working on a nervous breakdown. In addition to the major stress of starting a new job, the kids starting school and arranging all the childcare - DH got a job offer out of state. Far, far out of state. In a state I don't really want to live in. No offense to that state, I am sure it is a perfectly nice state. I am also pretty sure its not for me. I worry about the changes for the kids. I am up every morning at 4 am worrying about all the things there are to worry about. Still this feels like a runaway train. Clearly it is what he wants and thinks he needs - therefore he is glossing over all the minuses and sees this as an adventure. I see this as an adventure that could f**k up my life and my family. Not alot of grey area, is there?

out of the frying pan

2007-08-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

So, I got back from a week vacay with DH and kids in Bethany Beach, DE. We love it there and have been there for a visit for the past 13 years, usually for a week. This year I was ready to bail after three days of rain. We were able to make it to the beach three days, but we really pushed the outer limits of what is a beach day.

DH went from DE to CA, leaving me to drive the three kiddies home. The fact that we made three stops in the first hour tells you something about the ride. The dryer in our rental broke the last night, so I had to travel across three states lugging a giant plastic bag of damp clothes. Finally back in CT, and I started the new job today. I am still debugging my childcare situation. I am a little overwhelmed with the people, personalities and case load at the new school but I am sure I will get up to speed fast.

As for knitting, I completed one and 2/3 of a pair of monkey socks with some hand dyed yarn for my 11 year old daughter. This doesn't reflect the amount of knitting I did because I frogged the first sock when it was complete because I didn't like the ways the heel was turned. Some how my gauge changed but only on the heel and I decided I hated it after I finished my decreases for the toe. So rip it went. Hopefully I will finish tonight and post it tomorrow.

Update

2007-08-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

I ended up with two offers, and took a part time job in a therapeutic children's school. Now I am rushing to line up all my duckies. I hired a before school sitter, and the kids are registered for after school programs. My wardrobe sucks but I can't afford new work clothes yet. I guess that will have to wait for some paychecks to come in.

I have two weeks before my son is done with his "phase" in to preschool, so I will be doing some serious begging to get at least four days of coverage for him. Its a good thing he's cute! I am really excited about the job, my Connecticut social work license was finally approved, which required 2x a week phone calls to licensing people for several months. Bet they are happy to not hear from me every Tuesday and Friday. Sunday we go to the beach for a week. I am planning my vacation knitting (one sock, one BJS for my niece). If I get desperate, there is a knit shop in Bethany Beach. When we get back, I start work. Whew, it makes me tired thinking about it!

Ptoy, ptoy, ptoy

2007-08-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

So Jews have this weird superstition that to avoid bringing bad luck by talking about something good, you spit three times on the ground. As time went on and my peeps got house proud we instead started to make this weird noise to simulate spitting. What does this have to do with knitting? Well I am having a darn good week. I had my Stitch and Bitch group over for a pot luck, yarn swap and s'more roast. We had fun, people went home with yarn different from what they came with. I know the photo sucks but we had fun.

Thursday I had a job interview that went really well, and when I called one of my references to let her know she would be getting a call about me I ended up with a job offer from the place that I worked at for 4 months this year! And my transfer of my social work license from Illinois to Connecticut (which has been stalled in bureaucracy since February) was finally approved.

Then I came home today and found my sockapalooza socks had arrived. And they are awesome, made out of Collinette Jitterbug which is one yarn I do not own. They are a perfect fit. And they are from the adorable 17 year old knitter from Finland that I originally thought I was knitting for. So as to not piss fate off, I will say it was a heck of a good week, ptoy, ptoy ptoy!

Is 11 the clusterf**ck birthday?

2007-08-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I was crazy to invite 24 kids to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I KNEW it was crazy to plan to tie-dye with all those kids. I had no idea that things could get even crazier. With 20 kids actively engaged in preparing thier clothes for dyeing, my three year old son came up to me crying, something about bugs in or near the food. He was giving me the bad finger, which I then realized was about five times normal size. (My mom later asked if it was as big as the foam fingers at the ball park) Then I saw the swam of wasps or hornets or some angry insect, and there were several kids crying. I looked at the swarm and figured out that this was not good. The end was that the 20 girls who were at the dyeing area were okay, but there were four people stung - each getting about two bites. No one who was stung was allergic. Benedryl was drunk by all who needed it and I sprayed the hell out of the nest or hive or whatever it was. No one will forget this party! I tried but even several glasses of wine could not wipe away the memory of this.

In knitting, I am on my second sidewinder and hoping I will manage the increases with more finesse, or at least less tight!

anxious knitting

2007-07-31T04:45:00.001-07:00

Taking this yarn from point A to point B was about as nerve wracking as knitting can be. I followed Nona's sidewinder pattern with no changes, I got gauge. Because there is no way to know if it will fit until you have done a lot of work, it requires a lot of trust in the pattern. I was surprised by how well the sock fits, now my only concern is whether there is enough yarn to knit the second sock. I guess I need to weigh the yarn.

My only disappointment is how tight the yarn got at the lifted bar increases even with an effort to keep it loose. I wonder if there is a way to finesse this?

Whoo Hoo

2007-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am unblocked, I guess this means that nothing dirty happens here. I was one of many blogs that were erroneously blocked because "they contained elements consistent with spam blogs". My friends at blogger did not explain further but after several days it is unblocked.

I had really wanted to post last week because I was mid-dilemma about two pairs of socks. Since then with consultation from my SnB group, my monkeys were undone. They were in an opal yarn from Germany that had some serious contrast. I thought it didn't look so hot in the monkey pattern. The SnB'ers agreed and they are kaput. I made several starts at the sidewinder, and have just finished Act II. This sock is so hard for me because I will not know how it works out until it is done. The yarn choice seems good, it is from Opal Rainforest I. I will post pics later.

I was in New Hampshire to see my nephew at camp. It is his last summer, and his camp is super close to Patternworks. I bought a few things to send to my sockapalooza pal, nothing for me. So that makes only one slip from the yarn diet since January. I finally got my package from Marianne, and it was worth the wait and worth the slip!

random pics

2007-07-22T20:03:00.001-07:00

Item number one finished, broadripple socks in cascade fixation for sockapalooza pal.

Item number two, finished Baudelaire for sockapalooza pal.

Item number three, gratuitous sock in progress shot. Now that all the knitting for my sock pal is done, I am considering my next project. I am thinking of something for -hmmmmm- me!

I am also thinking hard about what else to include in the package for my sock pal.

This and That

2007-07-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

My latest knitting- 1 baudelaire done, one half od the second sock is done. I am seriously worried that these will not fit my sockapalooza pal. She did not give measurements but said she had generous ankles, or something like that. I know the lace has a lot of give but I don't really know what size they should be! I think I will make a second pair of footies out of fixation, so I can eliminate the ankle problem and know that they will stretch. The baudelaire socks look great, but I really want them to fit her!

Today's plan includes dentist for ds, and swim team practise for dd #1. Temperature is expected to be in the 90's, so I expect to maintain a slothlike activity level. Cooking will be minimal to non-existent, as will house work. I went to the post office on Saturday and mailed some yarn to Phyl for posting a comment to my 100th post! Hope she enjoys the choices. I went stash surfing to find goodies for her.

I want to give something away

2007-07-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to send a yarny gift to the 1st poster to my 100th post, but she did not leave any way to get a hold of her. She has an unlisted profile. Please let me know how to get some yarn to you or I will have to go send something to the next post!

brush with greatness

2007-07-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well imagine me sitting in a playground in Brookline, working on Baudelaire when who walks by. Alison of the blue blog with her three lovely children, including the baby in a hand knit hat and pants. So what do I do? Nothing. I couldn't think of a way to say hello that did not seem weird and stalkerish. So I told my non-knitting friend that I had recognized the family. I am not sure what was weirder to her, the fact that I saw and recognized Alison or that the knit blogging community exists or perhaps that I would not say hi. Oh well, maybe it was a weirdness trifecta.

By the way, this is my 100th post. I am thinking I should commemorate this in some way. How about first comment gets a gift of sock yarn from the crazy big stash? How about it? Any takers? Make sure to leave a breadcrumb trail or at least an email address so I can find out where to send it. Hey, let me know if you have a preference (Hand dyed versus machine, color).

done and undone

2007-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

What's done? The pedicure socks are fini, but have not yet been gifted, I will write and post the pattern soon. The Naga sock is done and gifted, and posted on the recipient's blog!

I cast on for Baudelaire in an apple green opal uni. These are for my sockapalooza 4 partner, who turns out not to be the original person I was sent but someone very interesting. I was intimidated by her recent post showing a drawer full of hand knit socks. I feel like I am sending coal to Newcastle. But the Baudelaire pattern knits up pretty fast and it is looking great! I am about to start the heel of sock number 1!

We are going to the Boston area for the forth, leaving tomorrow AM. I am not ready, not close. The minivan looks like it has been taken over by squatters with a sweet tooth. I can't pack it up till I remove all the extraneous shit that is there. I love the blink ads about how to clean a car, but those folks have not met my car! I hope to take in a yarn store or two while I am in the Boston area, one is near where we are staying in Brookline! Am I sounding like I am off the yarn diet?

summer sucks

2007-06-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

So Monday was my last day at work, and I also found out that DD 1 has strep. By Tuesday, it was clear that I also had strep. Several days of fever and chills foloow. Then I took DD2 and DS to the doctor because she complained of a sore throat. They are all on antibiotics although DD2 did not show positive for strep. Hey barkeep, a round of cefzil for the house.

I was supposed to drive to Philly today, but I can't see that being remotely safe. I am not sure if I will make it tomorrow. Time heals all, right?

How do you teach manners?

2007-06-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

I try to teach my children to be civilized, some days it is hard. Today at the swim club we had a problem with the mommy's not wanting my child to share their child's toys. I know three is an uncivilized age and I know he is a bit wild but when the one mommy told me I needed to do something and I saw her friend (we'll just call them bitch and bigger bitch) wresting her son's toy from my son I was appalled. She actually said, these are ours we brought them from home. Well, where did she think the rest of the toys came from? We all bring things from home, but we still share. Usually if other kids play with my kids' stuff, I just let them know where to leave it when they are done.

The bigger bitch had been talking loudly about her son's need for pt, ot and speech - all I could think was this was a bad enough example for a typical child let alone a kid with special needs. My friend walked by and found them bitching about me, and commented that not only were they not nice but they were caught being rude. I would have cancelled my membership on the spot if it hadn't been for the two nice moms who made a point to come over and tell me how appalled they were. I still don't know if I can hang out there every day this summer and face that! I just don't know how I can tell my child that he must share nicely with other kids but that he must not touch the toys at the pool.

Let me share a happy amazing thing. I was going to post the new firebird color of STR that I received on Wednesday, but saw that someone had already knitted hers up and boy are they gorgeous. I will now humbly link to Nicole. I bow to her knitting speed!

new sock

2007-06-23T18:14:00.001-07:00

This is the first pedicure sock, made with yarn dyed by my daughter for our dear friend from a made up pattern, now on to the second sock. I always forget to write the patterns as I make them up so the second sock is always a challenge. In this case the gauge seems slightly looser on the second sock. I'll have to get my foot model (aka dd #1) to test drive the second sock which is done up to the heel turn.

On a personal note, I finished up at work this week and I am hugely sad to be leaving this school. It was great to be back using my clinical brain, and I really enjoyed the kids. It makes me realize that I have no great interest in working with typically developing kids. To walk into an established team and have people welcome you and your input is amazing. I am glad I didn't get weepy on the way out. I got lovely cards and a few gifts. I will never again think that acknowledging the end of the school year does not matter to the school staff. Now on to the task of looking for permanent employment!

Guess who's been knitting

2007-06-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just realized how long it has been since I have posted any knitting. So I have finished a pair of socks using the Naga pattern, which I linked in a previous post. I added a picot cast off, my new current obsession. The yarn is flamingo by opal.

The second shot is the beginning of a pedicure sock, which I am designing as I go. The plan is to end with k2tog yo picot edge (as opposed to the picot cast off which involves lots of cable cast-ons). Then I am going to make a little i-cord thong thing for between the big toe and its little friends. The yarn was hand dyed by my six year old daughter.

Another knitting related item. I tried to break my yarn diet by ordering from marianne's opalwolle in Germany. She has gorgeous undyed yarns, including a bamboo blend sock yarn. She has opal patterns that probably will never make it here. I haven't bought a single skein since before January 2007. Needless to say, I tried to order more than a single skein but somehow never got the thing from paypal to pay. As soon as that happens I guess I officially broke my diet. Oh, well- its the longest I have ever gone on any sort of diet!

Off the knitting thread, I was a little gathering this weekend with lovely women from my area. There was jewelry selling and wine drinking going on. I tried really hard to not be my usually strident self, but eventually I erupted. What set me off was listening to these lovely, well-educated women talk about how great our local school system is based on statistics. I couldn't hold back. How great do the school have to be to educate a bunch of privileged white children being raised in a community where more than 60% of homes have one advanced degree? Show me those stats in a city school where the homes do not average 3000 square feet, then I will be impressed. As someone who works in a school, I can't buy accepting the whole statistic thing without questioning it. I asked one mom who was talking about the great curriculum if she knew what the town's educational goals for kindergarten were. She did not, nor was she aware that there is no gifted intervention until middle school. I do not wonder why I don't get invited out more! I realize that I am by no means the world's easiest human. I am glad that there are people who get it and get me or it would be hard living in the blinding whiteness of this area.

redo photo

2007-06-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized what a bad photo I posted. This is much better!

Mary's big day

2007-06-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

My daughter had her graduation from primary (aka kindergarden). At the risk of sounding immodest, she looked so cute. Her behavior and that of her brother were less than cute. The nadir of the day was when George lifted the back of my skirt up so that I essentially mooned all of the Cobb school. Ahh, good times.

On the craft front, I finished a painting this week for a little guy who likes outer space. Hope he likes it, I liked painting it. I got a little carried away. There was glow in the darlk paint involved. Hehe.

my latest obsession

2007-06-08T03:52:00.000-07:00

Well, just when I thought that I could go no further with my knitting obsession I joined a group that blows me away! The German sock knitters group is beyond belief. I joined thinking I could use my bad grad school German reading to understand but its more than a little over my head. I can say that language barrier or no its great fun to just check out the blog links. I have seen some great socks and some awesome dying. And just when I thought it couldn't be better, I realized that many Europeans understand some English and have gotten some great email from members of the group.

I have been proud of the fact that I have bought NO yarn since the beginning of the year, but I have been finding some amazing stuff from the SKL. If these vendors ship to the US my yarn diet is doomed. I consider it a bad sign that I have emailed one vendor, the diet is circling the drain.

not that I am vain

2007-06-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

I want a photo on my profile and this cockamaimie blogger thing says first I have to post a photo. So this was taken on a rare good hair day. I have a bad edit gene and end up erasing all images if myself, after 9-11 I tried to stop because I was worried that if I died somehow my kids would have no clue what I looked like. But yet I delete, in a ballsy move for me - I will keep my hands away from the delete key. You should see, its like the scene in Dr. Strangelove, one arm is pulling the other away from the delete key.

Any bets about whether from this point I can figure out how to get this connected to my profile?

the cutest sock pal

2007-05-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Painting by Mary age 6

Painting by George age 3

Painting by Sophie almost 11

George and the stars from his class

I just checked out my sockapalooza 4 pal and she's a 17 year old from finland! I love young knitter except they make me feel like an old knitter.

In other craft news I have taken leave of my senses and am allowing 4 kids ages 10 through 3 to paint with acrylics in my house. I am sure I will live to regret this but the paintings rock. I will post pics later.

happy mother's day

2007-05-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

Happy day to all of us hard working b****es. I am celebrating on this day by doing several thousand loads of laundry. Would it be too much for the people in this house to use a towel more than once? They can be easily hung from a towel bar or hook and used againd, the same can not be said for the towels that lie in a damp heap on the floor of the bedroom. I also buzzed the little guys hair because he was looking sort of shaggy.

I am also knitting the naga sock in opal flamingo (this is the doomed ball of yarn that I rescued from a fellow snb'er because she wanted to set fire to it after attempting the sideways sock). I think that I have taken the smell of doom off the yarn. I have turned the heel on the first sock and am up to the second repeat of the cuff. I finished two pairs of socks in april, but have to cop to the fact that one pair was started earlier.

I mailed off my package for knitter's treat exchange. Now I can start to work on my sockapalooza socks!

a huge mea culpa

2007-05-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

Last week on Wednesday, I received the most lovely package from the knitter treat exchange and I couldn't believe how lovely and thoughtful each item was. Patty clearly read my responses to the questions and shopped very carefully.

Literally the gift was too large and generous for one photo. It didn't help that my daughters were grabbing at things. And truly it couldn't have come on a better day. My husband is finally off disability, and I had my first tough day at work. The politics of the environment caught up with me and I was feeling pretty low. So needless to say, I am so grateful. It was truly what I needed.

But in the chaos that has overtaken me and sometimes immobilized me, I failed to immediately acknowledge the gift and today when I read through the 500 emails I have neglected during the week I got an extremely kind email from one of the exchange organizers, letting me know she was concerned that I had not acknowledged the gift, and that she was concerned because I also hadn't posted since April 19th. I so appreciate her concern, but am I feeling like a shit! I haven't mailed my gift, I haven't properly acknowledged this incredible gift and I haven't written in ages. The responsibility is mine and I feel every bit of it. All I can do is hope to find the time and energy to properly respond to all these lovely people who have done me such a kindness. Needless to say that I lack the words to adequetly thank these kind women, but I do thank you both.

time to buy a scale

2007-04-19T06:51:00.001-07:00

Not for food of course, but for yarn. I ended the leg of the tofutsie sock because I thought I had reached the magic halfway point in the skein. I would have liked it to be longer. Then I went to a friend's house, and used her food scale (she does weight watchers) only to find that I had 67 grams of yarn left. I wasn't even close to half way. So its off to buy a food scale today, so I don't have sock regrets. Its amazing how helpful actual measurements can be, clearly I am not a good guesser.

So I am enjoying the week vacation from school, but not as much as I would enjoy it if it were a paid vacation. My goals for the week are already shot, but I remain optimistic about getting some time to dye yarn, maybe tomorrow. I have colors dancing in my head and I was inspired by Scout J on Knitty Gritty to try using less haphazard methods to dye.

The City of Sisterly Knitting

2007-04-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

I went to see my parents over Easter weekend, and I got to see my sister knitting for the first time ever. She has been taking lessons and is now working on a scarf. I had to pick up a few stitches here and there, the sock at the left is mine. The good news about learning to knit at a great shop is that you are using nice wool, no matter what the out come is. She also got to experience knitterly insta bonding with the women in her class. Sadly she is not yet making sparks with her knitting as she does not yet have the compulsion to be knitting when ever and where ever possible.

This is my current sock in progress and it fits perfectly. I have not yet managed to get anyone else as excited about this as I am. Its the Queen Kahuna cast on, increases, gussets and heel. My plan is to do the picot edge, in other words - my favorite sock! The yarn is tofutsies, and I am using zero addi's (getting about 10 stitches to the inch). Shocking that I can't get my husband and kids excited by this, it looks so exciting in print.

I'm still here

2007-04-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

I am also still knitting. I am doing a pair of sock from tofutti yarn. I like it so far. I am using my adaptation on MAB Queen Kahuna pattern. I have no pictures because I need to recharge the camera, and things are not where they need to be.
My good news is that I am really enjoying being back at work. I am relieved to find that the brain atrophy has been minimal. I feel really energized by being back in the clinical world. I think part of it is the sense of collaboration in the team but part of it comes from the validation of my peers (not to mention the validation of the first paycheck). Not to say that there were not great moments at home with the kids, but using the training I have and seeing the potential for impacting other people is great. I feel like this post is really pollyannaish, but I can't help it. I am grooving on the work world!

my belated questionairre for Knitter's Treat Exchange

2007-04-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

1. What's your favourite type of yarn?
Seriously, its a bad sock yarn obsession, although I hoard kidsilk haze
2. What's your least favourite type of yarn?
Fun fur .
3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop?
Sock yarn, and did I mention sock yarn
4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do?
I dye yarn and other things. I also paint.
5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to?
Interweave and all sorts of fashion and gossip.
6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference: Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden
Wow, that's pretty much how I would order it!
7. What items do you like to knit / crochet?
Did I mention socks?
8. Are you allergic to anything?
environmental stuff, ramie, animals
9. What do you like the smell of?
Lavander
10. What's your favourite way to relax?
Food and wine.
11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first?
Bakery!
12. What do you come out with?
A cupcake
13. Where do you go next?
Bookstore
14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal?
No coconut, no cilantro!

knitting update

2007-04-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Well, anyone remember the ambitious goal I had for this year? Something about knitting three pairs of socks a month from stash yarn? And not buying new yarn?

I am proud to announce that there has been no yarn buying in this house. I have received gift yarn and BMF STR sock club yarn, we all know that does not count. I am however doing a fair amount of imaginary shopping, cruising Etsy and Astrid's Dutch obsessions. Not doing so well with the sock goal. March's' total is 1 pair, but in all fairness I knit the same pair of socks two times due to gauge problems.

I am beginning to suspect (quite strongly) that working full time my f* with my knitting goals. The first three days I brought knitting to do at lunch, but I haven't seen anyone actually sit to eat lunch. I don't want to buck the trend. I am really feeling food about the job, the clinical stuff came right back. I had a moment of panic before the first day, I was terrified that I might have forgotten how to be a therapist. Now I only fear the paperwork. I know that the logistics will fall into place. The kids at the school are great, during group we were talking about hobbies and mentioned knitting. Imagine how surprised I was that the eight boys in group got really excited and started talking about people in their lives who knit. I hope I can get back to knitting goals, and that I don't blow my first paycheck on yarn!

wasted days

2007-03-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

You know that your time and talents are misspent when the focus of a day (not to mention the last day home before the new job) is being a midwife to a child's difficult poop. You will be gratefull that there are no photos accompanying this entry. My three year old spend his day straining, red-faced and tearful. Weeping that his "tussy" hurt. Frantic phone calls to the doctor were involved. This distress was witnessed by many of our morning friends at the coffee store. They were all sympathetic.

When I finally left the house to pick the girls up, he finally took care of business much to the dismay of DH (who remains laid up in bed with herniated disc despite the valiant efforts of a massage therapist this weekend). I then had several phone call from DH with questions that clearly only I could answer (like were are the wipes). By the time I came home the crisis was resolved and the patient was playing in the bath. People wonder why re-entering the world of work is appealing to me!

tales of vomit and underwear

2007-03-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

My week started out with a bang. The vomit comet stopped at our house and resulted in many extra loads of laundry for me, and increased the need for a good rug cleaning. The real casualty was my new issue of Interweave Knits that my son vomited on, I don't think it was a commentary on the new layout.

But in other not table talk news, my Little guy is sporting underwear and peeing on (in or near) the potty. In respect to his long-standing obsession with all things green, I dyed a bunch or underwear for him.They all helped!

new gauge

2007-03-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well, clearly it was right to frog the socks. So far I have reknit about 4 inches of the foot and used up almost all the yarn it took to make the whole first sock. They would have been good for about one use. Disposable socks do not seem to be a good use of my knitting time.

My sister, the remedial knitter

2007-03-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

My gorgeous sister, Jane, has been threatening to take up yarn and needles since she moved near Loop in Philadelphia. She is above frolicking in the sea with my middle child and her partner James (who is much slimmer that this photo would lead you to believe). His family recently gave her the gift of knitting, well actually a gift certificate for lessons at Loop. I can tell that she will master this, as she reports that a coworker taught her to cast on using a shoe lace and a pencil. I see yarn in her future (better not be mine though). Even though I usually feel like a pusher when I get someone started, this time its not on me!

how I spent my time at SnB

2007-03-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

So after consulting with my knitting peers online and in person I realized that I had no choice but to frog the sock and start again. I didn't realize that I would use so much time undoing. I didn't get to cast on again until I got home, then I decided I might as well do it toe up so I could be really super sure of gauge. It is much better (now around 10.5 spi). I was left with a massive amount of yarn vomit, which I am wearing as a a hair ornament. Thanks for taking the pics Jenna! The beautiful yarn store you see behind me is Creative Fibers in East Windsor CT. The owner Laura is a major knitter and all around nice lady. She was wearing a gorgeous hand knit cashmere sweater last night. Wish I had apic of that. She is generous enough to hold on open knit nite the first Wed. of the month.

Update on Julie Amero

2007-03-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's Hartford Courant ran a letter signed by about 20 noted computer scientists from noted Connecticut universities (including Yale, Wesleyan and many others) urging lawmakers and the appellate court to review Julie Amero's case. They state that this guilty verdict will have a chilling effect on the use of computers in the classroom as Julie was held responsible for content on a computer without active firewalls or filters in a class where she was a substitute teacher. Hopefully this will get some notice before her sentencing, which is scheduled to take place on March 26th.

my day

2007-03-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Woke up and found that the temp had dropped to really f***ing cold, realized I am angry at the lying groundhog. Then I got every cranky non-morning person in the house up and dressed for the weather. Fed all the cranks breakfast (the cranks include my DH who is still incapacitated by back pain). Got the whole sorry lot in the car, picked up the neighbor kid and dropped off at three different schools and one physical therapy center. Got drive in coffee from dunkin' donuts (who were out of the donut that would have neutralized my PMS). Then I picked up DH at physical therapy, drove him home. Then I went and got fingerprinted at the police station for my new job. Went to the post office. Then it was 10:30 AM. Really, 10:30 AM. How do you top that?

No knitting yet today, but I am trying to decide what to do about the shaeffer Anne socks I am working on. I have one done and 1/2 the cuff one the second sock but I am really starting to thing that this yarn may not "bloom" as much as I have been told it would. If that is the case, I may need to frog them and start over. I don't know, I may need to pimp my fellow SnB'er for opinions. I may just need a class of wine and a nap.

Yarn Lust

2007-03-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

I have been a very good girl. Every thing I have knit since January 1st has been either gifted yarn or from stash. I had not officially declared myself on a diet but I was doing pretty well. Then on sock yarn sales yahoo group I saw a post by One Planet Yarn. Well, I drooled one my monitor (and a little on the keyboard). Now I am imagining all the ways I can spend the first paycheck when I go back to work.

On a serious note, please check out Eleni's and Scout's blogs about Julie Amero, who was convictived of several counts of risk of injury to a minor for porn pop-ups that invaded a computer in the classroom where she was a sub. The short end of the story is that she was not permitted to present her computer expert testimony which found the hard drive corrupted by spyware and the district acknowledged that there was no filter on the computer yet Julie could be sentenced to up to 40 years in jail. It is a travesty and has the potential to ruin her life.

What fresh hell is this....

2007-02-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

My husband returned from his hospitaliztion in chi town with his back pain intact. Also intact is his inablity to tolerate pain. He has been to the chiropractor 3 times without relief. Any attempt to ameliorate his pain with deep breathining or guided imagery has failed. I fear that he will become sick from the medication because he is on so many meds for his heart. I am tired and cranky and I have been up and down the steps 10,000 times. I want my mommy.

The good news is that I got the job in the therapeutic school, now I need to find childcare. Knitting is still happening but nothing finished to post. I taught my BF how to knot during her visit, she is 1/2 way through a sophie bag. I like to start the newbies on a felting project because the washing machine erases all sorts of sins. The picture is the contents of the package I got from Germany from the Martinas Bastel & Hobbykiste swap. Very sweet note, two pairs of handmade socks that fit beautifully, candy, and shampoo for the kids that smells like the freshest rasberries ever!

I am woman...

2007-02-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

I went outside at 6:30 am to shovel the 3 foot deep drift of ice that accumulated yesterday. I finished at 9 am. My muscles are trembling from the exertion. I feel like a hewoman or some thing when I look at what I accomplished. I even had to dig the garbage can out because it is a pickup day. I lost my mojo when it came time to shovel out a path to the mail box. Hopefully I will get it up to do that later today.

snow day

2007-02-14T05:29:00.000-08:00

We are stuck in the house today by snow and ice. Hope we don't end up like the Donner Party. I am seriously considering leaving the kids in front of the tv and taking a nap. DH called at 2 am, 4 am and 6am to tell me that his back hurt and he didn't think the medicine was helping. It was doing something because he sounded as articulate as Paula or Anna Nicole. He is in Chicago for three weeks for work, and he got there Monday and has been to the ER twice. I hope it gets better, its hard to know how I am supposed to help from Connecticut.

I had a job interview for a full time temporary position in a therapeutic day school. The facility was great, the staff seemed at the top of the game and it would be a great experience. They are checking my references and then I need to find me a wife (or some one I can pay to schelp my kids around).

As for knitting, I have completed a pair of mittens that don't fit me (my bad), two dishcloths based on the EZ square baby blanket, a baby hat and I have a pair of socks OTN. They are Anne by Schaefer in the most gorgeous color way (browns, tans and dark blueish grays). They get the record for the most stops and starts for any one sock. I started to do the wader sock from Magknits, but the colors made it impossible to see the pattern so I frogged. Then decided to try a jaywalker but did not love it. I hope I will love what I am doing now because I don't think the yarn can survive another frogging. I am using a pattern from Sensational Socks. I will post some pics later. I was son incompetent last night that I couldn't make the pattern work and ripped it out several times only to realize that I had omitted two stiches. It was user error. I almost never screw up charts, I don't know what went wrong.

the lap of luxury

2007-02-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday and I was treated to breakfast is bed served by Dh and the kids. It would have been better if I had not been awake for an hour, and if I was not fully dressed. Oh and if George hadn't had a poopy diaper. But it was lovely. The cards were great fun, and George's commeny on the card that featured a woman drinking wine out of a gallon sized wine glass was "Its you mommy". Nothing beats the wit and wisdom of a three year old.

DH picked out a beautiful necklace which even matched the clothes I was wearing. He immediately said you can return it like you do everything, as I was putting on. Its a keeper. Other goodies for my bday are a gift subscription to Interweave Knits from my sister (go KK) and three knitting books from amazon (More Sesational Socks, IK Favorite Socks and the IK Lace Book). All are not yet out but will be soon - thank you Jane!

today is your birthday

2007-02-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

So here it is 2-8 , my birthday! 44. WTF???? I don't know if this counts as middle aged because its hard to know how long you'll live. BUt is feels old and obsolete. However, I did score some knitting related bday prezzies- including my renewal for IK Knits, the new IK sock book, the IK lace book and more sensational socks. WHOO! So is 44 the new 34?

socks & mitts

2007-02-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

This is the ribbing for themittens done in Lorna's Laces and Kidsilk Haze. The color is dead on for a change, and the finished mitten is so light and soft.

The close up better shows the color and pattern of my anastacia socks. The fulls shot is pretty dark. The socks look a little baggy because my foot model (aka my 10 year old DD) is two sizes smaller than the recipient.

January sock count

2007-02-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

I met my goal to complete three pairs of socks a month, or at least I did it last month. I have started February knitting with the mittens that I received from my swap partner for Knit Mitten Kit Swap. They are gorgeous, and they are turning out to be a fast knit. One down, one to go. I think I will knit and i-cord connection for them so I don't lose them. I finished the socks to send to Germany and mailed the package yesterday. I will post the photo soon. For the purpose of my personal sock challenge I have decided that mittens count as sock. My S & B Group agreed to my loose interpretation of facts. I will have to knit fast because February is a short month.

My dear friend is coming to visit with her son during the kids February break. I can't wait to see her. She is having a tough time, so my plan is to ply her with sweets and wine. Maybe a trip to New York. But my real plan is to teach her to knit! Her son is deep into the Harry Potter books and I think she needs to make him a Weasley! Why does it make me feel like a back alley pusher when I teach someone to knit?

The best thing about swaps.

2007-01-20T05:29:00.000-08:00

The best thing about participating in a swap (in this case the Mitten Kit Swap) is that no matter how much fun you have getting your package ready to ship and finding all the right little things to send, there is some one else you don't know doing the same thing for you! I cannot tell you how excited I was to see the box waiting at my door. Then I opened it and saw the gorgeous bag that Heidi made. I can't get over anyone being clever enough at sewing to know how to place a zipper. I love the bag and the fabric.

Then I opened the bag and found all sorts of cool stuff, not the least of which was a skein of my favorite yarn (kidsilk haze) in my favorite color. Loved the lorna's laces. Loved the notions and games for the kids. Love the pattern. Loved the candy (but I am pacing myself). Have I over used the word love? Don't think so - my package put a smile on my face the entire day. Thank you Heidi!

Now, I have to finish my socks for a swap partner in Germany. What fun!

new socks

2007-01-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

Who-hoo! The first new socks of 2007. Here are the specs. The top pair for DH are regia mini ringel with knit picks essential heels and toes. Pattern was random from my head, knit on 2 circs. The extremely bright orange socks are for me and the yarn is a handyed yarn I bought a long time ago, I think from Ebay. The pattern is the falling leaves from IK 2005, and all the wonky yarn overs from the pattern evened out with light blocking. Sadly the pattern does not show up well here. This was also knit on 2 circs. I am sensing a trend here and I think ...(dramatic pause).... that this is probably my favorite way to knit socks. I have used dpns and magic loop but keep coming back to 2 circs.

Just so that noone thinks I am a prolific knitter or a woman of leisure, I will stipulate that the orange socks were 80% done by the end of 2006 and the stripes were 50% on New Year's Eve. My current project is for the spring swap from Martinas BaselKunst and I am using the anastacia pattern with sockatta yarn, because my partner said she preferred yarn with cotton, though I am not that happy with the colors.

I was feeling smug

2007-01-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

So I have already finished one pair of socks this month and I am well on my way to finishing a second pair. I made the bags for the mitten kit swap. I have read hundreds of posts on sock knitters about the knit from your stash. I loved the idea that sock yarn doesn't count and almost took the pledge. I had a thought that if I continued at my current pace, or even slowed down to 2 pairs a month I could knit through quite alot of sock yarn. Then I walked to the stash closet, to do a little sorting. I thought I should seperate hand dyed and commercial sock yarn since sometimes the hand dyed has a vinegar smell. I was shocked to tell you that I stopped counting commercial sock yarn after I got to 30 balls, I couldn't bring myself to count hand dyed because I am mortified by the size of my hoard.

I cannot tell you the effort with which I stalked the elusive vesper sock yarn, only to find two unknit skeins sitting months after their acquisition. Ditto for Anne by schaeffer. At least six skeins of STR. Four skeins from Ellen's half pint farms. And so on. I really thought it was doable to knit through the stash and allow the occasional sock yarn purchase. Not counting my STR club. And there is already such beautiful yarn at home waiting to be knit! This can only be gluttony, if not full blown addiction. I think I need to consider making a committment to knitting from my stash. I will post a pic of my wretched excess when my boyo naps.

first FO of 2007

2007-01-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

This is the bag I made for my pal in the Knit Mitten Kit Swap. I just made up a rough mitten shape and felted it. Its kinda cute, but I am really proud of the next step - I needle felted for the first time. The photo is dark but I used yarn to write knit mitt.

I had a strange find this week, a pair of socks I started a long time ago (the falling leaves from IK WInter 2005) with one sock totally finished and the second sock 2/3's done. I cannot for the life of me remember why I put it aside or why I never got back to it. Luckily it was an easy pattern to find my place in so it should be simple to finish unless they fall back into the worm hole.

updates

2006-12-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well, since the holiday knitting is done I have lost any sense of discipline. I have two active projects, one sock for DH and a scarf for my niece. Both projects are made of sock yarn. I will post wip photos when I can get my hands on the laptop.I have a bunch of stuff I want to start but will try to keep the number of projects on the neddles down to 3. Meanwhile Dh was back in the hospital while traveling for work (luckily he was dc'ed and able to come home on his own).

I had my first mammogram, which was followed by my first mammogram scare. Good news though, what they saw was determined to be just nodular breast tissue. I have to get the left breast mammogram repeated in 6 months, they don't want to see the right one again till next year. I am flabberghasted that they cannot find a less painful and humiliating way to screen for cancer. If they had to crush your head to visualize your brain I promise they would find a better way. The real issue is that you have some stranger handling your boobs, smashing them between the hard plastic. For mercy sake, can't they at least crush your boobs between something soft? Happy, healthy new year to all!

new stuff

2006-12-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

I seem to always find room for a few new skiens of sock yarn, I'm just a girl who can't say no. The 4 balls of luna park by orgnaghi came from Yarn4socks from mass., but I originally saw it on a post from Mason Dixon . The opal regenbogen (which I just learned means rainbow) I ordered from MartinasBastel and it arrived in record time. Looks like mamma's going to make new socks for her girls! The colors are making me so happy!

washcloths

2006-12-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

One down FIVE to go. If I can learn to knit while I sleep I am sure I can get this all done. I used Peaches and Creme yarn and the pattern from Knitty Gritty for the modular coaster. Its a little small for a washcloth but its cute. I am experimenting with making the next one larger. The problem is that I have to pay attention to what I am doing or I screw up the pattern. Do you know how hard it is to pay attention to knitting with three kids running around? Especially since they are all hopped up on Hannukah, very excited about prezzies and latkes. Gotta get back to grating potatoes and frying.

holiday update

2006-12-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

So I finished the christmas stocking. It came out well and was really appreciated, but the fact that I had to rework the pattern to get it to make sense was a bummer. I did ask my friend to let me have it back after the holiday so that I can add some more embroidery to the tree. Now ALL I have to is knit all the washcloths to go with the soap I made for the teachers. Tick Tock!

I am also trying to get used to knitting with reading glasses. I decided to start wearing my contacts because my glasses did a poor job of correcting my distance vision. The contacts do an awesome job of correcting my distance vision, but I realized I need reading specs. Oh, well I am living some version of age before beauty, except in my case it means that I need to attend to my age related needs before my beauty related needs. As Bette Davis said, "Ageing is not for sissies".

Interesting

2006-12-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

I saw this on someone's blog, and am kind of surprised. Some times you have that feeling that you are not alone! On the knitting from I have almost finished the intarsia part of the christmas stocking, and I hope it looks better blocked!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
295
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

starts with s

2006-12-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

The first "S" is for soap. My friend Eleni (who I won't link to due to her lack of recent posts) and I got together and made soap for teachers' gifts. It's a shame you can't smell them - these are lemon verbena and we did a lot of lavander as well, yummm. I ran out to the craft store this morning and bought fondant cuters so we could spell out seasonally appropriate words.

The second "S" is the socks I finished like two weeks ago but didn't post. They from Trekking XXL, don't know the color number off hand. The pattern I made up as I went along. Its my fave picot edge, but this time I did an afterthought heel. I didn't like it much in progress cause the endless knit tube bored me, but I like the fit of the heel, so I will probably do it again.

problem solved

2006-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

Well, after much thought I finally figured out how to solve the wonky chart problem. I am surprised I didn't get it earlier but I'll chalk that up to major tooth pain. I am going to restart the whole thing and do a provisional cast on. Then I will do the dreaded chart, pick up the ankle stiches on dpns and do the foot. Problem solved, and tomorrow I get my root canal and the tooth problem will be solved. Whoo hoo!

random thoughts

2006-11-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

How did I spend Thanksgiving with my family and assorted knitting projects without getting an effing thing done?
The pattern for my Christmas stocking is making me nuts. The chart reads in a way that is inducing nausea in me. The chart reads from the upper rows to the ankle, then the foot is done on dpns. It makes it hard to look at the picture and tell if its right, or maybe its my brain that has a problem. I am just used to charts that work up, and I may have to reverse the pattern so it doesn't make my brain hurt.
Joe Lieberman has hired some dude as his chief of staff or some such title who hails from Christian "family" oriented causes. Are we supposed to see Lieberman as a democrat? I think he might be trying to run for one of the 4 horsemen of the apocolypse. I still wished I could have voted against him more than once. On the plus side, my impulse control seems to be intact - I didn't leave a foul mouthed message at Lieberman's office.
Did any one see the "Rhymes with Orange" cartoon in the paper sunday? It was a snake looking at a book titled Anyone Can Knit. The caption was to the effect that the snake remained optimistic.

helloooo.....

2006-11-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see. Despite maintaining my silence I have in fact been knitting. I even finished a pair of socks for me, wore them and washed them twice. I swear I will post a pic. What has stopped me from doing so? A toothache to end the genre, which left half of my face numb from my eye to my chin (but only after causing horrible pain). I am on antibiotics and waiting for root canal on the 30th. Whoo who!

Then I stupidly invited my parents and sister to celebrate my son's brithday and my 10 year old daughter for having chanted the havdalah (end of Shabbat) service all by herself on Saturday. Then I thought, why not have a brunch and invited about 40 people over. So I thought I could clean the house and buy the food and all that stuff during the week. I did not plan for the number of hours I would spend at the dentist or sleeping off percocet on the couch. By Friday I was in a state of panic, but I pulled it off (mostly). Instead of the expense of ordering trays, I went to costco and bought lox and fixings. Cleaning was boiled down to the bare minimum and there were things that didn't actually get cleaned (some knitting stuff got hidden under the sofa and in closets). I did get 14 bags of clothes to Good Will, and wrote down the contents so they could be used to offset taxes. I also gave away three bags of really nice hardly worn clothes to friends. No sooner than I get some shit out of the house, people start showing up with gifts for the kids. Arghh! Some days I think I will never get out from under it. Did I mention that my temporary filling fell out? I hear the couch and the percocet calling me again. Hopefully my friend the dentist will have time to fix that before I drive myself and the kids to Phildelphia for thanksgiving (tomorrow afternoon).

mitten kit swap questionaire

2006-11-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

Are you allergic to any fibers? No!
What are your favorite colors? Leafy green, burnt orange, mustard yellow, rich browns
Are you a new mitt knitter? Nope
How long have you been knitting mittens? I have been knitting since I was seven and am now 43. I don't remember my first mittens but would guess they were in the last 10 years.
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I like solids if there is some variation in the depth of color other wise multi.
What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn? Wool
Where do you usually knit mittens? Every where I like socks and mitten because they are portable and I can always have something to do with me.
How do you usually carry/store small projects? in ziplock bags in my big bag
What are your favorite mitten patterns? A fairilse mitten from interweave knits that I did a few years ago. The colors were great.
What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques? I use eith dpns or 2 circs, I got tired of all the fiddling around with magic loop
What new techniques would you like to try? I don't know
What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens? Addi circs, but I am thinking of tring knit picks circs
What are some of your favorite yarns? I love sock yarn and have made mittens from both commercial and hand dyed sock yarns
What yarn do you totally covet? I have a strange obsession with rowan kidsilk haze but I am a miser about using it, though I have stranded it with sock yarn to make a warmer fuzzy mitten.
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? Probably some insanely comlicated color work or testural pattern
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Metal, addi, circs. I rarely use straight needles.
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Hand dyed cashmere, maybe lobster pot from Purl Soho.
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?Sour gummy peaches, good and plenty. I love chocolate but it doesn't always mail well!
What’s your favorite animal? cats, but I am petless right now
Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts? Living in new england, I guess I have to say warm
If you were a color what color would you be? leafy green
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? a new baby sleeping, it doesn't even need to be one of my kids
Do you have a wishlist? Not a formal one!
Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? Nope, but always open to questions

finished father & son socks

2006-11-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

So I finished this matching set for my guys with this tiny bit of yarn left. That never ceases to amaze me, that no matter how stressed I get about whether I will have enough yarn, I always make it with the tiniest bit left. This is opal chameleon from the first rainforest collection ordered from Astrid (and she is always a pleasure to buy from).
Now the only question is why dh and ds keep asking me to make them socks that they never wear. My nearly three year old informed me he doesn't like the "knitting" socks except for skating on the wood floors. No attempt to explain by DH, but he was informed that this is the last pair he gets unless he starts wearing the others.

2006-11-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

Okay here it is. The rhinebeck loot. I am possibly the last person in blogland to post my aquisitions. The sock yarn is all from ellenshalfpintfarm.com and the scarf kit is from morehouse merino. Hard to believe how much money was involved!

better late than...

2006-10-30T06:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some Rhinebeck pics, how can you miss with kids and animals? The kids had a lot of fun. They did not even mind the fact that I was having fun too. I am being thwarted by blogger and my pop up blocker, which are conspiring to keep me from posting the pics of my goodies from Rhinebeck, and recent finished objects. I will have to try a different computer or something.

the muldirectional witches

2006-10-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

I am so mystified. I tried to join the yahoo group for multideirectional knitting and my request to join was REFUSED. WTF? I cannot imagine how anyone could refuse a knitter membership in a knitting forum! I was informed by the letter that "all decisions are final". Am I missing something?

Rhinebeck!

2006-10-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, despite the fact that my partner in crime was unable to go I took the two little ones and went to Rhinebeck. What a scene! It was the most gorgeous day and one of the lovliest drives ever. Thanks to a fun new game we learned ( virtual hide and seek) the ride was without any bickering. Driving into the lot and seeing the massive number of cars was amazing. There were some fun things for the kids to do and there was yarn. We watched a sheep shearing. My five year old now is desperate to learn to spin with a drop spindle, she is carring a small piece of angora fiber that a spinner gave her. I continue to chant "Must not take up spinning". My favorite find was Ellen's Half Pint Farms sock yarn, the colors are lovely and the yarn has a great feel. I will post photos later. I bought 5 skiens but I am not sure they are all for me.

The Fold's booth had been stripped bare of STR by 1PM on saturday, they had only sockcandy left. I guess there is a slight exaggeration when I say stripped bare, as there were two skiens of the almost solid olivine left. I saw so many people wearing their handknits, but was most impresses with the two women I saw wearing items they made from the Knitting Nature book. Wow did they look great.

Coming from the epicenter of bland whiteness (Connecticut), it was great fun to see some funky fresh non-beige people. My kids behaved amazingly well, and I realized how lucky I was when I saw so many moms with crying kids. Its hard to find a place to time the kids out in the midst of a fiber fest. I will post pics as soon as I can.

brain cramp

2006-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

So I have started knitting aChristmas Stocking for a really nice woman who recently adopted a child from Russia. Over the summer she told me about the stockings that her mother lovingly knit for all her grandchildren (I loved the part about how they got bigger as the years went on and her mom's gauge grew). Sadly her mother was not here to meet this grandchild or to make her a stocking, so Jean asked if I knew anyone she could hire to make one for Krystina. I of course told her I would do and she could pay me in coffee! SO she ordered a kit from Patternworks in New Hampshire, and I got to work. I couldn't figure out why the instructions called for straight needles in addition to dpns, so I cast on the dpns. When I finished the cuff, it finally hit me - the intarsia part of the stocking was to be knit flat, then they tell you to change to dpns. Boy did I feel dumb as I frogged it! In my defense, it doesn't say to cast on using straight needles, you only kind of figure that out when they tell you to change to dps for the heel. Now I am back on track. The pattern is really cute - its a teddy bear sitting next to a xmas tree. I plan to jazz it up a little! The ornaments are supposed to be duplicate stichted in colored yarn, but I think they really need to be little crystal beads. Now if I could only figure out how to explain this project to the rabbi when he sees me knitting in front of the kid's hebrew school.

for real finished object (frfo)

2006-10-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well in between all of the challenges of life, health and sockwars , I managed to get some knitting done. My son is in a green phase and begged for some green socks so I used the opal chameleon. It is a pattern from my head and from now on I really should write them down as I do the first sock. It was a challenge to remember what I did. The ribbing is k3p1, with a heel that combines a PGR short row heel and Lucy Neatby's garter stitch short row heel. The toe is also a combo toe. I really like doing the heel and toe on crazy small needles, I think this was a 00. While my son liked the socks, he was scaring us by using them to skate on the wooden floor. He can find a way to make anything dangerous! By the way the other feet belong to my 5 year old daughter who cannot tolerate being left out of any picture, even a goofy knitting shot.

Now I am using the rest of the skein to make DH a matching pair, but his will be a low ankle sock so I don't run out of yarn.

my socks from the"war"

2006-09-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Now you can see what I got from being killed in the sock war. A pair of beautiful purple merino socks of doom. They fit like a glove...can't resist word play. I mailed my 1 and 1/2 socks off to be finished by Hope!

sock wars victim

2006-09-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well this is how far I got before I recieved my pair in the mail, so in short - I was the assasinated not the assasin. I will go directly to the post office and mail my attempt to my assasin so she can complete the mission. Blogger is clearly also involved in the conspiracy since I cannot upload the picture of the beautiful socks of doom I received. At least I have the socks, heh heh. If any one is interested the yarn is a regia six ply, and the colors are pretty close to accurate.

in memory

2006-09-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the funeral of an incredible woman who should by all rights be walking among us still. She was a devoted mother, a friend to many and someone who never tried to shine a light on herself. At her funeral, I learned that she was a talented singer. I knew of her love of music. I recently learned about her academic and professional achievements when my DH and I tried to help her buff her resume. She was widely traveled. Clearly she was modest. Devoted friends from her life were there. And her beautiful children, 11 and 13, were a testament to her. She ended her life because she became hopeless about her marital issues and feared for her future. If you knew her you would never believe that she would leave her children behind.

My garden is full of gifts from her, when she split her perennials she left them in my driveway. Hug your kids and tell your friends how much you cherish them. Never assume that tragedy cannot occur. I knit her a scarf because she had helped me so much after my husband's open heart surgery eighteen months ago. When I came to her house to drop it off she leaned in the window of my car and said that is so beautiful. She seemed delighted that it was a gift for her. I was proud to know her and hope she knows that.

zimmermannia

2006-09-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just joined the Zimmermannia kal and I am so excited to be knitting along with other obsessed knitters who worship at the hem of the master. I am going to do a baby surprise jacked for my niece who got slightly cheated by the last sweater which she will outgrow any minute! Now I get to go browse the yarn stash for the appropriate color and weight!

2006-09-20T03:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have waited altogether too long to post the beautiful gift I recieved from my KSKS pal Julia (from www.peonyknits.blogspot.com). Since it has arrived at my house the kids are bickering about who gets socks made from the gorgeous Sundara yarn. The little brats stand no chance of getting anything other than scraps from this, as I have been coveting Sundara yarn for ages and had not yet treated myself. The candy disappeared faster than fast. The addi 00 has already been used for a garter stitch heel ( and it looks great), and the green chibi case and needles are great. I am thrilled! The bag is lovely, the fabric is amazing and the dragon scales pattern from the keyboard biologist looks like fun.

The other pic is from last week when all the girls in the house wore handmade socks. The two blue pairs were recently finished from one ball of opal, with a tiny bit leftover.

render me speechless

2006-09-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is what is on my minivan. The knit sticker and one that reads "The last time someone listened to a Bush, folks wandered around the desert for 40 years" (I typed it because of the glare in my photo). Well, today this was added to my car by persons unknown outside my 5 year olds' gymnastic class. I can barely contain my outrage! I understand that driving around in a red part of a blue state with this bumpersticker may elicit some political discussion and I welcome that. This is ,however, a comment on their perception of my relationship with G-d, which is uncalled for. I would have been happy to discuss my beliefs with them but they chose an less direct approach. Part of the reason behind this bumpersticker is that my last name is Moses. Mostly I am shocked that anyone felt the need to put this note on my car, without thought to how I may feel and then signed it with a smiley face! What the heck is that about?

And update on DH is that he has to have another angiogram on Thursday to rule out damge on the right side of his heart. Wish us luck, we welcome prayers of any denomination!

good news bad news

2006-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well DH has landed himself in the hospital with pnuemonia, but the doctors seem more concerned with his ticker. He had open heart surgery 1 and a half years ago at age 46 to fix a valve. We'll be waiting for test results today. And before that I found out my dad in in the hospital for chest pain (they ruled out cardiac problems. And my nephew broke his wrist. Guess which part of the post this is?

My good news is that three of five family members went out today wearing hand made socks. That felt kinda good. I gotta focus on that. I have photos to upload but I lack the initiative now. Maybe later.

a small story of 9-11

2006-09-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

In the midst of the rememberence of the horrific anniversery of 9-11 I want to share the story of my day five years ago. I was working as a social worker on an adolescent psychiatric unit outside Chicago.It was a glorious morning, the sky was unbelievably blue. My girls were 5 and 7 months old and I had dropped them at day care. I was listening to Howard Stern who was talking to someone who wanted to fix him up. It was the usual Howard Stern Show. I walked into the lobby of the hospital where outpatients wait for aapoinments. There was a television on and they were showing the first tower in flames and unsure of what had happened. As the cameras rolled the second plane hit. I ran up to the unit and most of my coworkers were unaware of what was happening, I told people what I saw and we ran to the TV. The kids were having their breakfast. I remember commenting to one of the mental health workers that the buildings would always be a target for crazies trying to make a point. The staff and I watched as the tower fell and we contacted the medical director and the unit manager. We realized that this was a defining moment that people would talk about like where they were when it happened. We had about 12 or 15 inpatients and we thought about the story they would tell about where they were on this day that the world changed. We reached a decision that we would view the TV footage with the kids and start to talk about what was happening. Some how I wound up being the one to do this. The kids were staggeringly unaware of the world. When we talked about who might have done this they were painfully unaware of who the enemies of the US might be. Kids asked if it was Europe or London. I tried to say that though we had no knowledge at this time it was more likely an act of terrorism from an arab terror group. It was really sad to think that these troubled kids would live in a changed world with no knowledge of history or politics.

The day was a daze. I was lucky to get ahold of the few friends and family I had in NYC and they were all safe. I spoke to my husband. At some point I left work, and remember picking the kids up. I didn't realize that I had kept an afternoon dental appointment until I got the bill weeks later. My 5 year old had been told at school that bad people had blown up the buildings. I was upset that she had been told befor I had a chance to think about what to tell her. My baby was blessedly unaware. My husband and the kids and I went to Ruth's Chris and ate large slabs of meat and drank bourbon. At one point I was on the floor looking for a binky that had fallen and was greeted by the parents of a teen I had recently placed in residential treatment. I was barely sober. We got back home and watched the kids sleep and the TV through the night. Everytime I woke up during the night I would see the footage and realize that it really happened. My husband and I were so sad to think that this was the world our children would inherit from us. I realize that this rememberence is small, and meaningless in the face of what other families experienced. My heart aches for the kids on that unit who may one day realize that their problems were small in the face of the suffering in the world and my heart breaks when I think of the families that lost people they loved. I recall reading about a man who continued to feed his child the breastmilk that his wife had lovingly frozen before her death on 9-11 and remember the profiles incourage published by the NY Times. The losses are ripples on a pond that reverberate. The people whose lives were touched by those who died, and the lives that could never be touched in that way. My rabbi, Irwin Kula, came from New York for the High Hollidays and he sang in traditional melodies the texts of the messages people left for their loved ones and we wept. We sang G-d Bless America in Yiddish and for the first time in my life I felt truly American. I grieve all of these losses and really pray for peace.

baby wearing sweater

2006-09-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well this is not her best photo, but it shows the sweater in action. Considering the fact that it will probably fit her for 15 minutes, I am happy for the picture. I hope her face is not a reflection of how she feels about the sweater! Her mom and dad like it. I guess that was the goal! She looks like she needs a nap.

Vacation Recap

2006-09-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

The highlights of the vacation were :the giant spider outside our door , the sand , the pool, the tanlines and the baby cousin. Photos shown in no particular order. I finished one pair of socks and started another but have not yet photographed them. Hopefully, I will get my life back on track this week when the little maniacs go back to school.

handpainted by a ...

2006-08-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

So it took two days but this picture got posted! I don't understand why it didn't work yesterday. This is for my niece's room, which I haven't seen. My BIL was less than detailed when I asked him to describe the decor of the room. He mumbled something about frogs and the color blue. The good news is that I am unlikely to understand him if he doesn't like it. I can't wait to meet this baby!