Why Knitting is Better Than a Broken Washing Machine

You know how when you come home from a long day to find that your ancient-of-ancients came-with-the-house-but-no-manual-7-years-ago washing machine has spewed water all over the floor for the second time in as many weeks, and since your husband of 17 years has decided to split, you grab your handy-dandy copy of Any Idiot Can Fix a Major Home Appliance With No Prior Experience Whatsoever - For Dummies, only to find that not one single reference work on the planet internet can tell you how to remove the top of your particular washing machine* to get at the part you have oh-so cleverly self diagnosed**, so you have to call him anyway and it makes you feel like a big, helpless girly girl-baby?

Yeah, that's frustrating.

Anyway, at least we have knitting! Here are, at long long last, Anne's Lacy Diamante Socks:




I'm calling them Anne's because they were supposed to be my project for the long-finished Anne of Green Gables Knit & Read Along. Remember how Anne thought diamonds were purple? Right.

The yarn: Bare by KnitPicks, dyed by Celena, received in a swap. Most excellent dye job, Celena!
The original pattern: Diamante by Deb Barnhill via Knitty.
Modifications: Used a figure-8 cast on. Did yarn-overs instead of make1s for a lacier look. I like that they are just a little lacy.

The other major modification (I'm still geekin' out about it! - Syndrome) was knitting them with 5 dpns instead of two circulars. Experience-free as I am, even I can see where 2 circs would be easier for this pattern, but it worked out.

And since these took me so long (which is in NO WAY the fault of the designer - they knit up pretty quickly when I actually worked on them), I have decided to try something new:


Yikes! But then, maybe I'm just being a big girly girl-baby.

* Speed Queen AA4410W, unknown vintage. I'd guess 1980s.
** Probably a blocked drain. (I was wrong.)
*** Have you noticed an upswing in the amount of footnotes in blogs lately? No? Ok, just me then.

FOto Saturday - April 5, 2008

"FOto Saturday?" Yeah, yeah, I know. Do you want to see pictures or not?

Earth Hour 2008

An hour spent technology free led to getting these done:

Candy Sox


Candy Stripe Socks a.k.a. Candy Socks a.k.a. Candy Sox - either way, they're done! My daughter put them on and said, "They fit right now." Thankfully, I have some of this yarn left over and knit them top down, so if they are too small next year, I can (ideally) unravel them from the toes back and add some length. We'll see if that actually happens. Anyway, yarn is Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in #6946 "Crush." Size 2 (US) dpns. Basic top down instructions from Knitting Rules. These turned out ok, maybe a little ladder-y. The only thing I am really disappointed about is that they could have matched. I was afraid of running out of yarn, so I didn't try to match them and it turned out the pattern was only about 1/2 inch off. Bummer. What's our motto for this year? Say it with me now:

Fearless Knitting.

Hey, I'm trying!

My MMR&SE swap scarf is winging its way to Manitoba as we speak, so no photos until it's safely in Feralmama's hands. I already outed myself as her "secret" swap knitter, so no harm done there. But she really should be the first to see it, dontcha think?

I cast on for another Vogue Knitting scarf from their 25th anniversary issue, the Flounce Scarf by Laura Bryant using Lion Brand Incredible in Purple Party. I'm not sure if I love it, tho. I'm guessing the yarn they used in the original may have had a little more "body" to it - mine looks a tad droopy. But nice colors!

The Diamante Socks are still stalled at the second sock's wrap & turn, but since they are the ONLY socks I have OTN, I think I may be remastering (ha!) the W&T this evening.

Baby's J's quilt is machine quilted, just needs the binding to be made and attached.

The next big project is my Green Tomato. Remember, fearless!

First Daffodils

The blog First Daffodils 2008 features photos of daffodils from all over the Northern Hemisphere. Lots of pretty pictures, and they liked mine, too!

FOto Friday, March 28, 2008

Here's what my 6yo son's been working on over spring break:


Wii made from Lego. Inspired by a YouTube video.

The Walk-Through Paper Trick was not as impressive as I'd hoped. I need to find a better audience.


Maybe if I try it in 3D. Oh, wait.

We got two more inches of snow overnight. This weather can take a flying leap. I like snow... IN THE WINTER.


Pretty shadow.


Daffodils: We're here! It's spring, everybo... What the heck?

Baby J's Bib O'Love


Jumped off from MDK's Baby Bib O'Love - garter border with creamy stockinette center and reverse stockinette "J". Now I need to make one with an N - a much trickier letter to graph (maybe - think fearless!). Subversive Knitting has a great tutorial on single-crochet edging. It was quick and easy and I will do it again! It really helped tie the bib together since the straps were a different color than the main bib part. I might even give this to the intended recipient. Yarn: Sugar n'Cream in random colors.

Baby J is also supposed to get a quilt, which is actually cranking along pretty well and is at the sandwich stage.

Oh, and a Mystery FO! I finished my scarf for the MMRA&SE! I love how it turned out. I'll try to get a couple photos before I send it off to the frozen north.

A couple weeks ago I dropped a bomb here about my marriage, then switched to radio silence on the topic. Well, it's official, kinda. He's decided to move out. It's been a long time coming, actually. I was not completely shocked, and even the kids seem to be doing pretty well. Not sure where it will all end up, but I'm trying to get my papers and finances in order so I can be as prepared as I can be for whatever comes next. So that's that. This is not going to turn into "Tinky McSeparated" or anything, but thought you might appreciate the update.

FOol Friday

Ok, that's a tease because there are no Finished Objects to show this Friday. The horror!

The baby bib is done knitting but needs ends woven in, a button, and maybe a crochet edge to tie the mismatched top and bottom together (don't ask). Just gotta figure out how to do that crochet edge thing.

I have, however, been sewing like a FOol today. Working on baby J's quilt that I finally decided to start. The quilt top is done, just need the backing so I can sandwich it up and start quilting. Machine quilting.

FOr more FOolishness... The kids are outside playing in the snow. Yes, snow. We have at least 2 inches on the ground and more coming.

Happy Spring, everybody!!

FOto Friday!!! March 14, 2008

Long time, no see!

Yes, it's been a long time since I had a FOto Friday, and I'm sorry this one will be kinda lame. See, I'm cursed lately with a raging case of startitis. But since there has been absolutely no proof of knitting since January, I'll show you all the stuff I'm working on. Click for bigger, and fear not the ugly!


Here we have the World's Ugliest Dishcloth, lol. This was born of a burst of premature spring cleaning back in January, using all my odd cotton ball ends. A lot of this yarn came from Target knitting kits bought on clearance. What? You can tell?


The "Someone's Ready For Spring" dishcloth, also finished in January using Sugar 'n Cream Lime Stripes and Hot Purple. It's REALLY BRIGHT, but it will fade. Right now, the colors remind me of the violets we had in the backyard last spring - every shade of purple-into-white with those bright green leaves. Pretty.


A kinda FO - stalled since December or January. We'll call it January. This is the basic sweater for the Jimmy Neutron sweater. No, the yarn is NOT really that pink. It's more of a cranberry, but wouldn't photograph right, even with my hotcha new Olympus. (Which I never did download the software for, by the way. I just plugged it into the Mac to see if iPhoto or Preview would recognize it and they both did, woot!) Ok, so yeah, my own pattern, could use a tighter neck. Also needs the Jimmy Neutron insignia stitched onto the front, but other than that, it's finished. Yarn: Wool-Ease in Cranberry.


Here's a progress photo of the Lacy Diamante socks taken on January 18. I made this one bigger so you can see the stitch pattern and because Celena's sock yarn is so purty. Go buy some!


Same socks, taken today. Stalled (again) at the wrap-and-turn. (I think I can, I think I can!)


A flower from the Vogue Knitting 25th Anniversary Scarf by Nicky Epstein. This is for the oft-mentioned Miss Marple Read Along and Scarf Exchange. Shhh! It's secret knitting! In fact, this cherry-blossom pink flower is a bit of a red herring. hee! Yarn: Cotton Fine by Brown Sheep Company. This color is Tea Rose.


Candy-Stripe Socks for Miss M (aka Girl). Pattern: Basic Top-Down Sock Recipe from Knitting Rules. Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in Crush.


Start of Possibly the World's Ugliest Log Cabin Florescent Kool-Aid Dyed Extravaganza of a Fambly Binkit. Hee.


And... last but not least... the project I started last night instead of the quilt I've been planning for months... a bib for Baby J. He might get two. And maybe the finished MDK Baby Kimono. Pattern based on MDK's Baby Bib O'Love, but stockinette with garter border and a reverse stockinette J in the middle.

Hat Question and more

Has anyone out there in Blogland made a simple, rolled-brim hat? How long did it get before it stopped rolling? Here's mine:



It measures 2-7/8 inches with the roll, and 5-3/4 inches unrolled. So the rolling part is almost 3 inches long - almost half the length of the hat so far! Am I supposed to put a rib row or two in there to make it STOP ROLLING ALREADY? Because I would like to 1) start the decreases someday, and 2) avoid looking like I'm wearing a life ring on my head.

The yarn is Ironstone Colorchanges color #561, which Looking Glass Yarns calls "Jabberwocky."

Here are the Mumma Smittens:



I like them, but they are a little "floppy" feeling when worn. If I made them again, I think I would do a 2x2 rib cuff, and maybe only cast on 32 stitches instead of 36. That's surprising, because I only cast on 30 for my son's Smittens. You'd think I'd need a lot more for an adult pair (or maybe his are really floppy too).

Look what followed me home on Thursday:



It had been a rough week, and I needed a little yarn therapy. Plus a #6 circular needle for the hat. (Trying to knit an adult hat on 4 dpns? Not fun.) This is Arucania Nature Wool, worsted weight, color #28. (What is with the numbered colors?) I can't find #28 on their web site, but the color's pretty accurate in my photo (surprise). Sorry it's blurry (no suprise there), and please ignore the dust. (I do.)

As for the needle, I ended up getting my first Addi Turbo. You can see its pretty shiny tips in the hat photo above. I'm not exactly Lily Chin with it, but it is easier than shuffling rubber bands every time I start on a dpn, which is what I was doing before I got the Turbo.

And, hello? Why did I not post this funness sooner?



This is my amazing Hand Dyed Yarn Swap gift from Celena. I can tell she put a lot of thought into it and thought about my other interests like quilting and the Make-a-Bag site. Here's what she included, clockwise, from the upper right:

1. Nice Impressionist card - "Pond Lillies" by Allott Fuller Graves

2. Vertigo chocolate-caramel pop. Celena recommends letting it melt into a cup of coffee. It may not last that long.

3. THE YARN. My stupid flash makes it look more red, but it is a lovely deep purple-burgundy with indigo and navy blue. Can't wait to ball it up and try it out!

4. Pink Frosting body butter by Simple Pleasures. Alas, this is not edible.

5. Cute stitch markers that spell out YARN.

6. Thick stack of green quilting squares! All kinds of patterns; two of my favorite motifs are showing - leafs and stars.

7. Underneath it all is a green canvas tote, perfect for groceries or craft stash. Not sure of the dyeing method used on the tote (batik maybe?) but I love it.

Celena is planning another swap for January, so come join us!

Speaking of dyeing, the Winter Knitty is up and has another comprehensive article on dyeing with food colors. This is a really easy and inexpensive way to try dyeing your own yarn or fleece. Try it!

Quilt Madness

Gateway textiles:

Two dinner napkins bought on clearance. They sure look innocent, don't they?

Quickly leads to this:

CAUTION: Fabric stashing in progress.

Ok, I know I take terrible photos. If you thought those were bad, check out this attempt at artistry:

Natural sunlight is no match for complete lack of talent and a really cheap camera.

The result:

The Napkin Quilt

And reverse:

Happy 10th, M&J.

The next quilt:

Baby quilt for a friend. Guess I shoulda unwrapped the remnant piece first, huh?

FOto, er, Tuesday! Nov 13 2007

Finally getting some long-overdue FOtos up.

First off, we have the finished Purple Nubby Sweater:



As you can see, it fuzzed a bit after washing/drying. I hope a good shave will tame its unruly ways. Here is the sweater in action:



Covered in leafs. I'm sure Pip would be jealous.

Sadly, one of our LYS went out of business at the end of October. The shop was tiny and had really inconsistent hours. It seemed to be run more like a hobby than a business; I kinda hope the owner just got tired of it. One of the saddest things to me is when someone fails and can't see why, even though it is blatently obvious to everyone else. Can't keep your yarn shop in business? Try being open!

On the plus side, I got yarn on sale! Remember the Skeen of Green? (Oh, the beloved Skeen of Green!) Well, they didn't have any left, but I bought 3 skeins in a pinky coral. I am not normally a coral fan (ha!), but it sang to me and I had to take it home.

A new discovery for me was Ironstone Colorchanges, made in Italy. It has long, lazy color changes like Noro Kureyon, without all the icky grass stuff. I got one 50g ball in greens with a touch of blue to make mittens for Boy1, and 3 balls of pinky/purple to make a Booga Bag for me. On the way home, I realized the yarn is 50/50 wool/acrylic! No Booga Bag from that - it will not felt. Good thing I bought those 3 balls of Soy Wool Stripes the other day...

So here are the mittens from Ironstone Colorchanges:



Believe it or not, I tried really hard to make those match! The one on the right was made first, and I skipped over the rest of that huge yellow-green section to get back to where the blue started. Then the pattern straightened out, and I got the mitten on the left. Oy. On the other hand, they do match - they are EXACTLY the same size! (Can't tell from the photo tho. Figures.)

Other than the color issues, I really liked knitting with this yarn. I know nothing about spinning, but I think it is spun worsted? It's all one strand, not three or four thinner strands spun together, if that makes sense. It is soft and squishy, a little bit of thickness change but not too much, doesn't break, and, did I mention the lack of grass? No grass. Very nice.

Conventionally-matched mittens:



Paton's Classic Merino color Grey Mix. (Oddly, I did find grass in this ball of Paton's.) The blue is the same grey yarn dyed with Berry Blue Kool-Aid. It came out lighter than I was hoping for, but that's ok. A matching hat is OTN.

Finally, the interloper 4-Berry Trifle Jaywalker:



After slogging on the instep for what seemed like forever, I was finally able to start the toe. Well, of course, I slogged a little too far on the instep, and now it is too long. Needs a bit of frogging. Rats.

Quilt Madness to follow!

UFOctober Report, Day 19 (and FOto Friday)

It's amazing what a good night of sitting on your butt ignoring the laundry quality TV can do for your knitting. Last night was a very good night. Here's my tally thus far.

*=new progress

Blue Cascade Socks for Boy1 - Frog Frogged 10/6/07 (1:30 a.m.)

Chevron Lace Socks - Rip back to heel flap just before turn, & reknit Finished 10/6/07 (1:00 a.m.)

Early Nettie - Frog Frogged 10/1/07

* Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono 1 - A second washing and blocking satisfied me that all the wayward dye was rinsed from the sweater. There's still some bad dye running, but - aha! - the HCBK is knit in garter stitch, which makes it kinda reversible. Reversible enough, in fact, that reverse it is exactly what I did. So the worst dye bleeding is inside, and the rest of anything remotely noticeable is on the back. Problem solved! FINISHED 10/18/07.

Behold the heartbreaking cuteness:


Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono 2 - Figure out the sleeve seams or frog No progress yet, but feeling better after the success of the HCBK1.

Lily Pad Socks for Boy1 - Finish second sock FINISHED! 10/7/07

* Purple sweater for Girl - In progress - sewed up one side seam, picked up stitches at armhole to knit sleeve in the round. I am NEVER knitting another sweater in pieces again!

My Bad Photo:


(That's not a dye lot mistake. The color varies throughout the skein. See below.)

Presumably professional photo of the sweater from the Lion Brand site; not our family:


Yep, that's acrylic, people. Bought lots of it before I knew better, but it's soft and warm and, hello, machine washable. I'm using it. Click here for the pattern. I'm leaving off the hood, doing a roll-neck collar instead. And, as mentioned, knitting the sleeves in the round from the shoulder down.

* Recycled Navy Sweater - see below.

Recycled Navy Sweater before


Recycled Navy Sweater after


Why is this sweater in the trash? This sweater began life as an exercise in anger management. The yarn came from a 25-cent yard sale sweater. I frogged it during a particularly rough patch in my marriage, when ripping a sweater apart seemed to be the only viable outlet for the stress, anger, and frustration I felt. (Things are better lately, thanks for asking.) As you might expect, the yarn was roughly frogged, not rinsed before rewinding, and full of knots. Badly done all around. The color was SO DARK (the flash really lightened it up immensely), it was depressing. Somehow, a junior's size small sweater did not give me enough yarn to knit a little girl's cardigan. Go figure. Considering the anger, the depressing color, the yarn shortage, and the fact that I started knitting it in pieces before I knew about knitting in the round, it makes sense to me just to toss it. Good riddance. Trashed 10/19/07.

Sky Socks - Mail Mailed 10/4/07

Swap-Bot Swap Yarn - Mailed 10/6/07

* The interloper:
Jaywalker may be slightly stalled at the heel. The instructions are not making sense to me. Is it a short-row heel? Anyone know? If I can't figure it out, I'll probably just do a flap heel and hope for the best.

The Exceptions:

Jimmy Neutron sweater for Boy1

ONE ball-band dishcloth if the mood strikes

So, that's my report for now. By the way, Knitting Daily has been running a few posts recently about UFOs. They also ran a poll that shows the average number of UFOs per knitter is 7. The knitters with more than 20 UFOs easily outnumbered those with zero, by 3-to-1, in fact. Yow. That's a lotta UFOs.

If you don't read Knitting Daily, follow that link and sign up to receive it by email. It's from Interweave Press, therefore, very entertaining and informative, even if it isn't quite daily. :)

FOto Friday - October 5, 2007

Undeserved Yarn, or, My Sock-Bot Loot:

Dyed by Debbi with acid dyes on Knit Picks base. She calls this color Sweet Tart - very appropriate! Looks like it will make some fun Monkeys if I ever attempt a pair. Seeing her neat little yarn cake makes me want a yarn winder soooooo baaaaaad. She sent along some awesome purple stitch markers by Mary! This photo is really dark, I'm sorry!


Seeing Debbi's pretty yarn and after wrestling with the kool-aid Every Single Time makes me think I need to step up to real acid dyes if I want to take this yarn dyeing thing seriously.

And did you know that many (if not all) fiber "acid" dyes are citric-acid based? So is Kool-Aid! I was thinking of something far more sinister, probably since a nasty dustup between myself and some sulphuric acid once resulted in a late-night trip to urgent care. Anyway, speaking of wrestling with Kool-Aid...

The Project Previously Knows As The Great Pumpkin, Now With More Autumn Leaves Effect!:

Overdyed in TONS of lemonade Kool-Aid (pale stuff, that), then spotted with Cherry. It looks good, so I'm sending it on to the very patient Robyn once it's dry (one photo with flash, one without):



If I tried this color effect again, I would dye it with four packs of lemonade FIRST, then hand-painted it in orange, red and maybe a touch of green. The contrast of the red and green in early autumn leaves is one of my favorite parts of autumn, yet I forgot all about it.

This also qualifies as a finished project for UFOctober, woohoo!

More UFOctober Progress:

Early Nettie Before:


Early Nettie After:


Sky Socks Before:


Sky Socks After:


In other progress: I've turned the heel on the 2nd Lily Pad sock. I'm enjoying this yarn again, so this seems to be my main project right now.

If you want to participate, leave me a note in the comments by Saturday night. (I was going to have everyone leave a comment on the original post, but that seems silly to me now, so just leave one here.) If you have already signed up, check the UFOctober 2007 link list to the right and make sure your name/blog appears there.

And don't forget to grab a button! (Please save to your own account, thx.)

FOto Friday - September 28, 2007

Wow, a week sure goes by fast! What? It's been two three weeks since I did a FOto Friday? Yipe. Sorry!

This is, at long last, the Vine Lace Scarf I hope to teach at the LYS next month:

Ok, that's a terrible picture. I'll get a better one, uh... someday. The scarf is done in one skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Very simple pattern: 3 repeats of Vine Lace pattern with a 3-stitch stockinette border on each side. The border rolls a bit by design.

Here's a little sewing project that's been burning in my brain for way too long:


Produce bags! Get the whole story over at Make A Bag.

One ball Noro Kureyon + one basic knit-flat mitten pattern - tops of fingers and thumb + top ribbing =
Fingerless Noro Mitts. These knit up super-fast! Probably four hours, total. I used the mitten pattern from Instant Expert Knitting. (Support your local book store, or at least Borders, which is Michigan-owned!)

Oh those aren't unwoven-in ends. Those are a design feature. Yep.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I'm doing a hand-dyed sock yarn swap through Swap-Bot. My swap partner (I dye for her; someone else dyes for me, presumably) said at one point she likes the colors of autumn leaves, so that is what I was going for.

Yes, really. (Stop laughing.)

Lesson learned: never underestimate the power of orange Kool-Aid in homemade dyeing projects. Good grief!

Oh, yeah. The mailing deadline is tomorrow. Do you think Robyn would prefer ugly yarn or late yarn? sigh