Visitors Are Leaving...Green Pullover is About Done

My daughter and granddaughter have been visiting from Florida for the last 5 days. Today they leave. It has been so much fun to have them here, although, I have to admit, I had forgotten just how busy a 2 1/2 year old can be. Mia, my granddaughter, is talking as well as an adult. She says the funniest things! Like the other night...we were watching Wallace and Grommet and she got a little freaked by the giant rabbit. She looks at me and says "Gramma, shall we watch Curious George instead?" Shall we?? She sounds like such a prim and proper little girl, but then the next minute she's running through the house naked, screaming, and throwing things. Typical toddler! I wish my daughter and her family didn't live so far away. It's hard to see them only a couple times a year. I usually fly there in the fall, if there's no hurricanes! Thank goodness for Xanax...I can self-medicate and fly now! If anyone has a fear of flying (and mine was BAD!) Xanax WILL help you. I do take twice the prescribed amount (I take 100mg) and it has made flying bearable, almost enjoyable. It has opened up the numerous possibilities of air travel which I never thought I'd have. Drugs can be wonderful! Just don't drink with the Xanax, I had some wine when I got to my daughters house and I about fell asleep in my dinner!

I plan to work on the green pullover the rest of the week since I am on vacation! I have 4 weeks of vacation to use by October, and since my daughter was visiting, I took this week off. After they leave this afternoon, I will continue knitting on the sleeves, they are about 6 inches done so far. I am knitting them at the same time, it's so much easier, and I'm guaranteed they will be identical in length. After the sleeves are done I may feel like I've accomplished enough to actually start on the purple cardigan without any guilt! I can hardly wait. Another project I've really wanted to knit is the Celtic Cable Pullover. I think this is the cutest sweater! I have some pretty grey yarn I am considering using for it. My biggest concern about this pattern is the boring back and sleeves. I have a real hard time knitting inches and inches of plain stockinette stitch. Maybe I will dig out my old Bond Sweater machine and knit the back and sleeves on that. I know, it's sort of cheating, but it works so good for that sort of knitting and it looks great when it's done. You can't tell the difference between the Bond knit fabric and the hand knit fabric. Really! Only thing is, since I moved (3 years ago!) I haven't unpacked my Bond and all it's accessories. Do I want to futz around doing all that or just hand knit the dang back? I guess I should finish what I already have on the needles and then worry about it!

iMac woes and Slackerness...

When I started my blog I swore that I would update it at least once a week. That lasted about 3 weeks! I could give some lame excuses, like I broke my arm, or I have been working 60 hours a week but those would all be lies. Truth is, I am on vacation and taking it easy. Or as the younger crowd would say...I'm a slacker. Plus, I am having major problems with my faithful little iMac. I have been a dedicated Apple fan for the last 14 years. The computer I have now is 4 years old and my 5th Apple. The disk drive is dead...dead, dead, dead. Which means that I can still use the computer but I can't load any software. Or, the saddest part...I can't load the new OSX 10.4 I just got! I cleaned out all my files, backed everything up that I wanted to keep and was planning on doing a complete erase and reload when the damn drive died. And to add insult to injury, I also bought a new digital camera and now I can't load the software for it. So I have all those awesome jpgs and I can't upload them to my blog. Many frustrated tears later I decide to take little Mac to the repair shop. The tech calls me the next day to inform me that little Mac needs 725.00 worth of repairs. Freaking A...I can buy a new iBook laptop for a grand, why would I even consider dumping that much money into a 4 year old computer!? So I schlep back to the repair store and bring little Mac home, still with a dead rom drive. I guess I shouldn't complain since I can at least access the internet. Basically, Mac is usable as long as I never want to add anything...sort of like owning a car that can only make right turns! Time to visit the Apple store unless anyone knows how I can repair this myself!

To Be Started..Soon

Last Saturday my 2 friends, Joyce and Janet (HI !) and I went to Yarn Cafe in Maple Grove, MN. We had an excellent time. That has to be one of the most fun yarn stores in the Twin Cities. And the service...the best! Barb wound all our yarn purchases even though it was busy. Most stores would have told us they were too busy to bother. And we had lunch at their awesome little cafe. The salads were good...really good. You can sit and eat while you knit, look at books, gaze at the walls of beautiful yarn, etc. They have delicious baked goods also, which we had for dessert, of course! I could have stayed there all day, and we almost did. I highly recommend this shop if you are ever in the Minneapolis area. Save room for coffee and a giant muffin! And be sure to check out the new yarn they carry exclusively called Mooncake Yarn. The color selection is huge...I would guess the worsted weight comes in over 50 colors and the heavy worsted in 25 colors. These yarns are reasonably priced and have great yardage, over 200 per skein. I bought some grey and purple to make some slippers. Joyce and Janet both bought green for vests. I'll let you know how it knits up. I noticed that they don't have it listed in their online store but I'm sure they will soon.

I want to start the Lisa Lloyd Basketweave Cardigan (look at that beautiful purple wool and the buttons...they are an iridescent pearl with purple streaks) but I am forcing myself to finish my cable pullover first. Don't get me wrong, I love the pullover and all I have left are the sleeves, which I plan on casting both on today and knitting at the same time. So when I'm done, I'm really done! This pullover has been a fun knit, I pretty much designed it as I went and it actually turned out pretty nice. I'll post a pic as soon as it's done and sewn together. I am going to start some slippers with the above mentioned Mooncakes Yarn. BTW, the Plain Jane Lopi slippers were a ginormous bust! Didn't felt worth a damn. I don't recommend Lopi for felting projects. This is the second time I've wasted my time with a felted Lopi project. Never again. Anyway...I am going to knit these slippers, which I think are really cute. I can't decide if I should knit them large and loose and felt them or just knit them regular. I'm leaning towards felting but after my last slipper disaster...

My basement flooded Monday. Yup, 3 inches of standing water because the sump pump didn't work. And to add insult to injury, I had about 10 loads of dirty clothes, waiting to become clean clothes, which are now wet, dirty, clothes. I am working on washing it all today since I was at a work meeting all yesterday until 8:oo pm (waste of time). I hope to finish it today and get my basement dried out. What a mess, I could've cried. This is what happens when you get lots of snow and then warm temps and it all melts really fast! At least I am off work today (love these Wednesdays!) so I will keep washing and knitting! C'ya...

Colonoscopy, Schmolonoscopy!

I survived the dreaded colonoscopy! In reality, it wasn't bad at all. Like everyone says, it's the prep work that sucks...and it does. Drinking that solution every 15 minutes was the pits. But the actual colonoscopy was a breeze. In fact, it was so easy I don't even remember it! When the doctor said we were all done I asked him why it only took 2 minutes. He said it had taken over 20 minutes! All I can say is thank goodness for drugs...especially the sedative variety! After all my fretting and fearing it turned out to be so easy that I sort of feel like a whiney baby. Sort of...but not really ;o) I have a healthy colon and no problems! It was worth all the shit (really bad pun intended) I had to go through to learn I was fine.

Today is the big shopping day! My first Saturday off in over 2 years! My friends and I are gonna eat, squeeze yarn, and have a good time! I can't wait. Another thing I can't wait for is a visit from my daughter and granddaughter. That little gal in the picture is my granddaughter Mia. She was adopted from China in October 2005 and is a real little spitfire. Smart...really smart...genius smart!!! I can brag like that since I genetically had nothing to do with it. I haven't seen my daughter, son in law, or granddaughter since last October when I flew to the Florida Keys to visit them. I was there for Mia's 2nd birthday, it was lots of fun! The Keys are a great place to visit. There's cool little shops, great restaurants, my son in law takes me for a ride in his boat, and best of all...my daughter and granddaughter are there! If you haven't already figured it out, that is a picture of the cutie Mia! You can check out my daughter and her husbands trip to China to pick up Mia at their website www.redthreadconnecton.com

Canklets Are A Bust! Pannekoeken Rocks!

After spending the better part of yesterday afternoon searching for my notes on the Canklet...I am willing to give up the fight. I cannot remember how I deciphered the German chart and I can't find my notes. I went through my numerous knitting bags and my computer notes to no avail. So, unless there is a kind knitter in blogland (who can read German) and is willing to help me translate the stitch pattern, the Canklets are going in the frog pond. I've tried the translators online but they were no help. A nice blogger even sent me this link for German knitting terms, but still no help. I know when to throw in the towel, or sock, and I think it's now.

Tomorrow I am going to the hospital to have a colonoscopy. I am 54 and have dodged the probe bullet as long as I can. I have a new doctor and she is a hard-ass, but I really like her. She finally got my diabetes medication figured out and I feel much better. Unfortunately, she saw on my chart that I had never had a colonoscopy, which I guess is supposed to be done at 50 years old. So, tomorrow at 4pm central standard time I will join the ranks of legends of others who have been through this humiliating test. Oh joy....

Since I can't eat solids today or tomorrow I made one of my favorite meals yesterday. I made Pannekoeken...or as we call it, Dutch Baby Pancake. It is sort of like a gigantic popover that you can put syrup or fruit on. I like to put blueberry syrup on mine, my sons like maple syrup. It's simple to make and your house smells like Christmas cookies baking! Here's the recipe. A few pointers, the edges brown first, watch the center for doneness. The center should have golden brown spots on it. Eat it right away after you take it out of the oven since it will collapse a little. You probably don't need extra butter :o) but fruit syrups and maple syrup is a must. If you bake it in a pie pan you can cut it into wedges for easy serving. Make 2, they get eaten fast! Bon apetit!

Dutch Baby Pancake
This recipe makes one. Double the recipe to bake 2 at once.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter in a pie plate.

Mix together, with whisk, just until blended:
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the batter (there will be lumps, that's okay) into the middle of the pie plate that has the melted butter. Place in oven and bake for 16-20 minutes, until browned, firm and puffed. Top with syrup, fruit, cinnamon and sugar, whatever! Eat and enjoy. You can bake 2 at a time, this recipe is for one only.

I have today, tomorrow, and Saturday off work. I'm hoping I feel fine Saturday since my knitterly friends Joyce, Janet, and I have plans for lunch and yarn shopping. I definitely deserve some new yarn after going through a colonoscopy, any reason to buy more yarn works for me! There are many good yarn shops in the Twin Cities area. I think we will hit Yarnzilla, Yarn Cafe, and Coldwater. All great shops with good customer service. I have shopped at a couple other shops in town and had less than friendly customer service so they don't get my yarn dollar any more. Should be fun, it's always a joy to add to the stash! I am using up some of my old stash (really old!) and knitting some cute slippers. I found the pattern online. They're called Plain Jane Slippers, and are very cute. I am following the pattern but using Lopi and size 10 needles and I plan on felting them. I'll post a picture if it works out okay! Sometimes my felting experiments aren't the best, in fact, I have had complete failures. They are very disappointing after all the time I spent knitting the item. Keep your fingers crossed that these work. They should be cute, and toasty!

Cankle Anklet

Last night, after I had updated my blog, I went and tried on the Cankle Anklet. It's pretty, and now I want to finish it and knit it's mate so I can have some pretty socks. Here is the Cankle Anklet in all it's unfinished glory. A sock that celebrates ankles! What do you think of it? I haven't even started to write the pattern and the lace will have to be charted because it is too much to write out! The lace pattern is from a German stitch book that uses very different knitting symbols than we use in the USA. Should be fun. Speaking of fun, has anyone seen these awesome and fantastic socks by Cookie? She is unbelievable and her socks are truly works of art. I hope that someday soon she does a book of her patterns, it would be a "must have" for me! Many of her patterns are available free at Knitty.com but I especially love the pattern Thelonious which isn't at Knitty...bummer...

I Have Cankles...

Yes, cankles. What are cankles you ask. Well, cankles are a malady that I inherited from my mom, who in turn inherited them from her mom, my gramma Alexander. For all I know, cankles could go back centuries on my mothers side of the family. Yes, cankles are something you hope you don't inherit, but if you do, there's not a damn thing you can do about it. My mom prefers to call her cankles "the curse of the Alexander leg", but regardless of what she calls it, we've got it. It is the unattractive ankle that looks like a continuation of your calf, hence, calf going into ankle=cankles. Okay, so it's not like we have elephant shaped legs, not really. More like a fence post...sort of the same circumference from knee to foot. There's differing degrees of cankleness. I've seen worse than mine, much worse, but all in all, I'd say mine is the average cankle. Why do I tell the whole blogging world about my cankles, because I knit socks. Yup, cankles have a profound effect on sock knitting. Ever since I first laid eyes on the popularJaywalker Socks I have wanted to knit them. I can tell by the comments I've read and just by looking at the unyielding stitch that these socks will not fit a cankle ankled gal like me. I don't want to have to struggle to get my heel into my socks and I don't want my feet turning blue from the blood circulation being cut off. Nope, I need stretchy ribbing or delicate lace or even some good old cables with lots of extra stitches thrown in for good measure (pun intended :o). Today I found another sock that I had started many years ago. It's pretty, I like it, and it is a sock that draws your attention to the ankle (or in my case cankle). Am I going to finish it and knit another? Of course. And I'm also going to write the pattern up so you can knit it for thinner, regular ankles or for women who have a slightly "thicker" ankle like mine. So never fear...us cankle ankled gals can have a beautiful lace encircled ankle too. We need it, we want it, we deserve it! Check back tomorrow for a photo of the Cankle Anklet (I guess it's not really an anklet since anklets have a folded over top) but that's what I'm calling it!

Another Sock to be Completed...Someday Soon

After I gave it some thought, I decided that I can post my pattern I designed for a SOTM Club. The club is no longer active and hasn't been for years. I own the copyright so if I want to share, I can. I have changed the name from Falling Leaves Socks to Gated Vines Socks. I did this since there are so many socks with the Falling Leaves name on the internet. Although, I think mine was before all of the others. Either way, I took the photo on our gate hence, the new name. It is a fun knit that requires a small amount of concentration and is probably not a good pattern for a beginner sock knitter. I hope you enjoy it!

Gated Vines Socks
Wren’s Nest Designs©2001 All rights reserved.
Materials
Yarn:100 gms Opal Sock Yarn (any fingering weight sock yarn will work)
Needles: size US 1 (2.5mm) set of 4 dpn (or size needed for gauge)
Gauge: 9 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch
Size: Fits women shoe size 8-9 (adjust foot length for differing sizes)

Cast On
Cast on 75 stitches.
Divide the stitches evenly onto 3 needles:
ndl 1: 30 sts, ndl 2: 15 sts, ndl 3: 30 sts
Join, being careful not to twist stitches.
Place marker at beginning of round, between needles one and three.
Work K3, P2 ribbing for 1 1/2 inches or desired length.

Start Vine Pattern (multiple of 15 sts):

rnd 1, and ALL odd numbered rounds: knit
rnd 2: *k3 (yo, k1)twice, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1, p2*
rnd 4: *(k3, yo)twice, k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, p2*
rnd 6: *k3, yo, k5, yo, k1, sl1-k2tog-psso, k1, p2*
rnd 8: *k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, (k1, yo)twice, k3, p2*
rnd 10: *k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, (yo, k3)twice, p2*
rnd 12: *k1, k3tog, k1, yo, k5, yo, k3, p2*

Knit 5 repeats of pattern.

Arrangement for Heel and Instep
You will be rearranging some of the stitches so that you can continue one repeat of the Vine pattern down the center of the instep. You will need to center those 15 sts that make the pattern PLUS add a “p2” at the beginning of the 15 st pattern repeat, just like there is a p2 at the end. This will insure that the pattern will be “outlined” with the purl sts and will remain symmetrical. Here goes:

Slip 12 sts from the end of needle 1 onto the beginning of needle 2.
Slip 10 sts from the beginning of needle 3 onto the end of needle 2.
Slip the last st on needle 3 onto the beg of needle 1.
Move marker over 1 st between these ndls.
Needle 2 should now have 37 sts on it.
Needles 1 and 3 should have 19 sts each.
Marker should be between ndls 1 and 3.

Now, look closely at the pattern on needle 2. You’ll notice that the 15 st Vine repeat has a p2 at the end of all the even numbered rounds. You will be adding a p2 at the beginning of the 15 st pattern rep on all even numbered rounds. So needle 2 will always be worked as follows: *k10, p2, work the 15 st pattern, k10*

Heel Flap
The heel is worked on the 38 sts on needles 1 and 3.
Knit to end of needle 1. Turn work.
S1, and purl back the rem stitches on needle 1 and 3, a total of 38 sts. Turn.
Start heel stitch with row 1 (right side) of pattern.

Heel Stitch Pattern:
Row 1:(right side)*sl 1, k 1* across to end
Row 2: sl1, p to end
Repeat these 2 rows until heel flap is square or about 2.5 inches long. End after a row 2.

~If you desire a longer heel just continue until the length you want. Remember, the longer your heel flap, the more gusset sts you will need to pick up.~
Turn Heel
This is round (French) heel:
Next row: (right side) slip 1, knit to center marker, k2, SSK, k1, turn.
Next row: slip 1, purl 5, p2tog, p1, turn.

*Slip 1, knit to within 1 st away from gap, SSK, k1, turn.
Slip 1, purl to within 1 st away from gap, p2tog, p1, turn.*

Repeat from * to * until all stitches have been worked, always working together the 2 sts on each side of the gap. End after a purl row. Turn. Knit to marker at center back of your sock.

Gussets
Pick up for the gussets:
With needle 1, pick up one stitch through each slip stitch loop on edge of heel flap. The number of sts you pick up will depend on how long you knit the heel flap. You may use a crochet hook for ease. Slip the picked up st onto needle one with the heel sts.

Knit across the instep stitches on needle 2 continuing in Vines pattern, this will be rnd 1 of Vine Pattern.
With loose needle, pick up one stitch through each slip stitch loop on edge of heel flap. When all loops are picked up, knit across the sts on needle 3. You should have equal amount of sts on needles one and three. You are once again at center back of your sock and ready to start the gusset decreases.
Knit 1 round, continuing pattern on ndl 2.

Now decrease for the gussets:
Needle 1: knit to 3 sts from end of needle, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: pattern across, working appropriate round.
Needle 3: at the beginning of needle, k1, SSK, work to end.
Knit one round, continuing pattern down instep on ndl 2.
Alternate decrease and knit rounds until 74 stitches remain. (18, 37, 19) You will work on extra gusset dec to have equal st counts for the instep and the sole. This will make the toe decs easier later.

Instep
Continue to knit ndls 1 and 3 on all rounds. Continue to pattern ndl 2. End when the foot length is about where you big toe is attached to your foot or approx. 1 1/2 inches shorter than your foot.

Toes
This is a round toe shaping.
Decrease round:
Needle 1: K to 3 sts from end, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: K1, SSK, knit to 3 sts from end, k2tog, k1.
Needle 3: K1, SSK, knit to end.

Knit one round even.

Alternate decrease and even rounds until 18 stitches remain on ndl 2.
Knit decrease round every round until 8 sts remain on ndl 2.
Place stitches from ndl 1 and 3 onto one needle (should be 8 sts) and graft together with the 8 sts on ndl 2.
Knit another sock to match!
Wren's Nest Designs© 2001 All rights reserved.