Catching My Breath

The whirlwind of summer things is starting to settle down as we start to get ready for fall. I have been getting year end/new school year paperwork ready. Have been preparing materials for a beginning knitting class that I will be teaching in September. Been trying to do a little cosmetic work on the old blog and rearrange the house to accommodate the needs of the new school year, while allowing me a bit of office space.

I have been also knitting away to earn another promotion in Starfleet. Here are some of the little things that I have knit so far. My goal is to be a Lieutenant or higher before the end of the summer.

Here are some of my completed  missions:

A disguise

A bracelet

A plethora of dishcloths

A communicator cozy

A fez for Timmy

which is in the process of being shot off his head by Doctor River Song.

A timelord worthy scarf for Timmy

which is proving to be quite handy for a variety of tasks.

Substitute hat after River has destroyed fez

Thinking aid

Tree climbing apparatus

Wild horse taming device

and Escape tool

On the whole, Timmy was very pleased.

To round out my Starfleet knitting, I also completed a  pair of Rainbow Medusa Cascade Socks

A Shawl – my design.

and a hat – also my design.

I am disappointed that I don’t have a new pattern ready to show you. Those last two are about to enter the testing phase so I should have the ready in a few weeks. I also have a second shawl that will be ready as soon as I get the yarn for the last 5 rows.

Until next time, happy knitting.

Too Busy to Blog

Between Timmy, the garden, the dead freezer, last week’s problems with car glass, computer issues and the kids, that is how my life has been.

So let’s catch up, shall we?

Timmy has been properly fitted

Though it’s not an easy thing to do with someone so small.

Dead Freezer has been removed. It was a good freezer that served us well. It survived 18 years and at least 5 moves. It will be missed.

However, I have suddenly discovered that its removal gives me much more room in my kitchen. So it may not soon be replaced.

All glass has been repaired but I thought I might show you what happens when I have a bad week with car glass.

Now one but 2 windows drop into doors without reason or warning.

This is only the seventh repair (technically, we could call it 9 since they replaced the parts on all 4 windows this time) we have had on the 4 windows of the Jeep. Can you say “factory defect”? I really hope I don’t have further problems with this vehicle. Maybe we should have gotten a van instead.

But as if two window replacements weren’t enough, Mr. H decided it might be fun to catch flying scrap metal with his windshield.

There were three other vehicles damaged by the same flying scrap metal. Truck that tossed it into the air was oblivious to the situation. Fortunately, Mr. H wasn’t hurt, other than in the wallet.

So hopefully, you all will forgive my temporary absence and consider yourselves fortunate that you aren’t me right now.

Next post will be about knitting. I promise.

My New Boss

This is my new best friend, Timmy.

Timmy is the CEO, mascot, code monkey, manager, top banana at ThinkGeek, one of my favorite websites on the planet. Timmy has commissioned me to do a little knitting for his convention wardrobe.

Timmy’s travels are legendary so he needs a flexible and extensive wardrobe that will have him prepared for whatever adventure might arise. He never knows who he might meet or where he might end up.

Timmy is a monkey who appreciates the beauty and quality of hand-knits and I am totally honored to be knitting for such an prestigious business monkey. I hope that he will enjoy the things I knit for him. I will be keeping you posted as my work progresses.

Gulf Breezes

I’ve neglected to share my latest design with you. This one is just perfect for summer. It was designed for Sunflower Yarns June Simple Pleasures Kit. (if you are really lucky their might be one or two available still). I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sunflower’s Farmington yarn. The color is rich and lovely and the yarn handles nicely.

Gulf Breezes

This versatile little shawl will be a must have addition to your wardrobe. Not only is it a wrap for those cool evenings, a topper for a sundress, or a chic kerchief-style scarf; it even works as a beach cover up when tied around the hips.

It’s knit from the center back down with a single 100-gram skein of luxury sock yarn. The unusual shaping helps it stay on the shoulders nicely. Pattern is suitable for the Advanced Beginner to Intermediate knitter. Techniques required: basic stitches, increases and decreases, simple shaping, basic lace techniques. Available as a download through Ravelry.

$5.00

Things I Learned from Camp

We are starting to settle back into a routine after summer camp. The kids had a blast and I learned a few things too. Here are a few I thought you might like to know about.

Things I Learned from Sending Kids to Summer Camp

• It takes half-a-century and an act of congress to get kids ready to go to camp.
• It takes a week to recover from packing for camp.
• I can really get a lot accomplished when I am not distracted by kids.
• After about 2 days, the lack of distraction gets lonely.
• Having a week alone with Mr. Heart is really quite nice.
• The house stays cleaner without kids in it.
• No matter how many clothes you pack at least one kid will complain about not having enough to wear
• Packing soap and towels is no guarantee that boys will shower.
• The kids don’t miss you nearly as much as you miss them.
• You must explicitly tell boys how often they must shower. Otherwise, they will think that the shower they took before they left home is enough to last them for the whole week.
• Boys can come up with really creative excuses for skipping showers.
• Teenage girls might just be more homesick than their younger brothers.
• Boys can bring home approximately 3.8 metric tons of red dirt on their belongings when they return home from camp.
• Packing healthy snacks is not a guarantee that kids will actually eat them.
• It will take longer to unpack the stuff that went to camp that it did to pack it.
• New shoes and clothes that went to camp will never, ever look new again.
• Even if you don’t go to camp, your clothes are going to get red dirt in them.
• Sometimes, what looks like sunburn is actually red dirt.
• It is really good to have the kids back home.
• But whatever you do, don’t tell them how much I missed them.

The long awaited…Because I Felt Like it – A tutorial (Part 4)

Seems like ages ago when I posted the rest of the felting tutorials. This one was a bit delayed because the photos came out fuzzy and had to be retaken so please ignore the multiple backgrounds. And now for the long awaited conclusion to the continuing drama of As the Wool Shrinks.

Lesson 4 – Felting isn’t the last step. Or Blocking is Important. Really, really important.

One of the first things you will notice when you finish felting your knitted piece is that it sometimes looks very little like the desired finished product. That is because most felted items also require blocking to look the way they should.

For example, here is what the Lily Alexania hat looks like right from felting.

And this is what the finished hat looks like.

Not a lot alike, huh? This is the time when blocking comes in really handy. Here is what you do to block your felted hat.

First, you will need to gather a few supplies.

You could use an expensive hat form or you can gather some household items to form the hat into it’s desired shape. I used a cookie tin, a can of chicken and a couple of plates but anything you find around your home that is the right shape and size will work.

Next, stretch your piece lengthwise.

During felting the stitches tend to bunch up lengthwise more than widthwise. A good stretch helps return them to a more proportionate shape.

Now, stretch your hat over the form.

This will give the hat its basic shape. You will need to stretch and shape around the form. You want to hat to really hug the form.

Smooth the top of the hat.

Make sure you stretch it to make the top smooth and flat. Then smooth out the sides of the hat along the side of your form.

Now, shape the brim.

Roll the brim so that your hat can rest flat on your work surface. Then using your thumbs and fingers work your way around the brim stretching and shaping until you have coaxed the brim into your desired shape.

Continue, shaping until you have shaped all edges of the brim.

Once you have the desired shape, place you hat on a surface to dry. I used a plate to help support the brim during the drying process.

When your hat is dry, decorate the band as desired and enjoy.

I learned a lot from this adventure in shrinking but there are still more questions that I have about the process. Don’t be surprised if you see more adventures in felting later.

To Market, To Market…

My friend Lucy is mad for market bags. She positively loves them and she has been nagging me for ages to come up with a pattern for one. Well Lucy, here you go.

Green Chic

Everybody is going green now. This market bag will help you save the earth while still looking stylish. The lace panel stretches to accommodate all your shopping. You will swear the bag is bigger on the inside. And if you don’t want to bring home groceries in it, the bag makes a great project bag.

Pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter. Skills required include knitting in the round, crocheted provisional cast on, lace skills including double decreases. This bag is worked in the round beginning with a provisional cast on. The handles are worked flat and then grafted to the side. Chart for lace pattern is provided but full written instructions are included in the pattern.

The pattern includes two sizes. The larger one is particularly suited for shopping. The smaller one is a good size for a project bag or purse. Instructions are also included for making the bag in more than one color, like the yellow and orange bag. The pattern is available as a pdf download through Ravelry.

$5.00 USD

Vanilla Just Needs Sprinkles

I have tried for ages to knit a plain vanilla sock. I much prefer the feel of a plain stockinette foot and for socks that are worn with boots who is going to see the cuff anyway. I do okay with them until I get to the cuff and then I get bored. My latest pattern is another case of me getting bored with a plain, vanilla sock.

Sprinkles Socks

This is what happens when you decide to add a few sprinkles to your plain vanilla sock. This lace and cable pattern is perfect for spring and summer wear. The easy-to-memorize stitch pattern makes it a great traveling sock.

Pattern is worked from toe up on circulars or dpns using a wide toes and an easy-peasy reversed gusset heel with not wrapping and not picked up stitches. It includes instructions for either Plain Vanilla foot, worked in stockinette stitch (as shown here) or the Vanilla with Sprinkles foot, with the lace pattern worked along the top of the foot.

$5.00

Knee High

Imagine my surprise when the Booksneeze website had a knitting book available for review. Naturally, the minute I saw it available, I grabbed my copy of Knitting Knee-Highs Socks from Classic to Contemporary by Barb Brown. I confess I had never heard of Barb Brown and really don’t care that much for knee socks but I was intrigued because I hadn’t seen a book dedicated solely to knee-highs so I thought I would give it a go.

Brown begins by showing us how to convert standard socks into knee-highs. She includes a formula for constructing a top-down knee-high sock that actually fits. The steps are clearly explained with examples given to clear up any confusion you might have. The calf shaping section was something I found especially interesting because it wasn’t something I had seen covered in other sock books. Brown also includes a handy dandy table of foot length vs. shoe size, in case you are knitting for someone else.

Brown next includes some great tips for making sure your knee-highs fit properly and stay up. For example, were you aware that knee-highs should have a longer ribbing than standard socks?
She then presents a section for converting knee-high patterns into other sock styles so if you don’t want knee-highs you can still knit the patterns from this book.

One of my favorite sections is how to swatch without swatching. She gives you dozens of ways to use that swatch-that-isn’t-a-swatch. Her humorous presentation makes it much more likely that the swatch-reluctant knitter will actually knit that swatch. As a knitter who has frogged my share of projects because they were the wrong size, I appreciate her method of making swatching pain free.

The book then presents 20 sock patterns, most including the instructions for knitting each pattern as a knee-high, a standard sock, leg warmers and/or ankle socks. Her colorwork is quite beautiful. She has some great combinations of solid and semi-solid yarns. The pattern instructions are a combination of charts and written instructions. The main stitch patterns are charted and there are written instructions for the heel, gusset and toe of the sock.

I guess my biggest complaint with the book would be the photos. Some of them are just plain, silly. Socks with slip dresses. Seriously? If it is warm enough for a slip dress, why would you want to wear knee-high wool socks? Once you get to more sensible fashion combos the photos are much better.

On the whole this is a nice sock book. It is probably not something I would have purchased simply because I am not really that fond of knee-highs. However, now that I have read it I find it to be a valuable asset to my library.

---

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A New Hope

My heart still aches for those who lost so much in the 27 April tornadoes that ravaged my state. The clean up has started and much work has already been done but there is still so much to do. To help with the relief effort, I am committing 100% of the profit from the sale of my latest pattern for relief to the many areas of Alabama devastated by the tornadoes. I plan to donate the first profits to area churches that were damaged or destroyed. Once those needs are met, any additional proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross.

May I present to you…

From My Heart Bath Set

This bath set includes a total of 4 patterns – a towel with matching wash cloth…

along with a soap bag that doubles as a bath mitt and finally a larger drawstring project bag. The small bag also makes a great holder for small items in your knitting bag or purse and the larger bag is a great size for a traveling knitting project. Perfect for that one skein shawl or a pair of socks.

The set is fantastic for gift giving. Just drop in a bar of your favorite luxury soap and you have a quick yet personal gift. And since you are getting four patterns for one price, it is a great bargain.

$5.00

The news stories that originally broke my heart are now encouraging me. Seeing so many people come together to help in the relief effort restores a new hope for the future of my wonderful state.