Updates

Goals for January:

• I finished my first socks for January, well before the end of the month.
• I'm working on my first hat of the year now and should finish it today or tomorrow.
• I've read three books and have two more to read before the end of the month.

Brrrr, it is so cold here. It's after 1:00 p.m. and the frost from last night has turned the trees white. It's like all the trees are flocked for Christmas. Plus the evil weather people are talking about snow again. What's up with that?

Finally

Today my mail lady (to be known from this day on as Dawn) brought a package to my house and I was finally able to give her the socks I knit for her. I think she was a bit surprised and I also think she really likes them. It was fun to give someone something that they weren't expecting, but I'm not sure I can convince her to wear them, as she said something about hanging them on the wall.

Staci (my sister) has a friend who is going through chemo and losing her hair. Staci asked me to make her friend some hats. She also said her friend (we'll call her Nell because that is her name) used to knit but couldn't remember how and asked if I would teach her. Why not?

So we went to Wildfibers to get hat yarn. Now Staci is the least crafty person around and I'm positive she had never been in a yarn store, so there was a lot of discussion on why some things would just not work. Finally, we narrowed down the choices and Staci bought three skeins of yarn.

A couple of days later at Thanksgiving dinner, I jokingly told Staci that Knot Just Yarn had a 20 percent off the next day. She said oh do you want to go, I said no way am I going shopping the day after, are you nuts. So anyway the next day she called me and said I'm going to the sale, will you meet me?

I wade through the traffic (30 minutes/four miles) and meet her and she's picking out yarn to use to learn to make herself a scarf. She bought this amazing Jewel by Universal Yarn that is mohair and ribbony and you know a pain to knit, which she sends home with me for safe keeping. Of course, you know that while I was there I had to buy more yarn for myself.

Monday we go to Nell's for the lesson. I take all my stuff in my wonderful Mackinaw Moon rolly bag and they each get yarn and needles from the bag. Both know the basics, but neither can cast on. I show them and we sit and knit (although poor Nell was not feeling the best). Then Staci decides her yarn is too pretty for her to knit on so guess who made scarf.

You had to see that coming, right?

Zig to the Zag

First, this is the cutest name for a sock pattern I've seen. Second, I love the pattern.

I'm working on a pair of Zig to the Zag Socks with a pattern by Mandi Coughlin at http://mandiknits.com/ . They are turning out so cute and in only four days I'm already down to the foot on the first sock. I love the Knit Picks and the Felici yarn http://www.knitpicks.com I'm using is wonderful. It is so soft, it is a joy to use. The bad thing is that I'm looking at their website and there are no colors of this yarn that I like. Hmmmmm

Traveling Wilbury Socks

The Traveling Wilbury Socks from the pattern collection of the Knitting Curmudgeon are my latest project, and these socks are for my friend in Texas. I hope she will like them and thinks of me whenever she wears them.

This pattern is the first one I have knit using my nine inch circular needles from KA Bamboo. I love them, it was worth the hours and hours of searching through stores and on-line. Why no one carries nine inch circular needles, I will never know. I think people who are new to knitting socks will love them and I can't wait to get them in all sizes. I am very happy that Inox is now carrying them in the 1/2 sizes.

Yesterday I picked about 50 pounds of apples for mom to make into applesauce, but today she said she didn't think her arthritic hands would let her cut up the apples, so I'm making applesauce. It's strange how many apples it takes to make two bowls of applesauce, but once frozen I'll have enough for the whole family for the whole winter.

I plan to use my vacuum sealer so that I will be able to store a lot in a little space. I wonder if it will work, I hope it will work.

Harry Potter on tape

Knitting has taken up a lot of my reading time, so I borrowed the first four Harry Potter books from Staci to listen to while I knit. There is nothing on television during June and I want to finish Helen's socks as quickly as possible, so I've been listening every evening. I must say that I like reading much more than listening, but that's just me.

After listening to the first two books, I went to Alibris.com and bought books five and six (on tape). Right now I am listening to book five, The Order of the Phoenix. I got book five for $4 (something) and book six for about $23.00 from bookarama through Alibris. The seventh and final book is over $40 so I can wait until the price goes down.

On the 4th of July, Apple Yarns in Bellingham has a 30% off sale on everything in the store. I didn't want to drive all the way to Bellingham, and since they allowed call-in orders, I got a needle holder and four skeins of yarn. Hmmmm, I wonder if they still call them skeins? They didn't have my first choice, but I did find some pretty (at least it looks pretty on the web) autumny colors. Now I just need to find a pattern I like.

Flutter-By

Another great sock pattern chosen by the Thrifty Knitters' Sock Club at Ravelry. Of course I screwed up the first sock and had to knit three, but I like the patten and it was pretty easy to do. In fact, the only reason I had to redo sock one is that the body of the sock was just too big.

Socks are getting easier every time and I love the free patterns on Ravelry and the sock knitter groups that make suggestions and/or help with problems.

These socks are for Bethany. Her birthday was in March, but I guess she can call them a Mother's Day present from her aunt.

Jaywalkers

I'm busy working on Jaywalker socks and really like the way they are turning out. I say they because I had to frog the first one so I am technically on my second sock. I know, I know, that doesn't count.

Today is Easter and we are going over to Nikki's for dinner. It's cold and rainy and I sure don't want to hunt for eggs. Now if the eggs were chocolate, I might have a different opinion.

Yesterday I mowed the pasture. It is so wet and muddy, that it's kind of scary to be out driving up and down all the hills. Mowing the path behind Bette's house made me sad.

Bellatrix the complete story

I did it! I finished the January socks in January. I wonder if there is a prize. If there is a prize, it should go to me, because I actually knit three socks. My Kirschner stitches even looked okay on one of the socks.

Today is January 23 and I have eight days until I start my next pair of socks. I wonder how many books I can read in the next eight day?

The weather today is awesome. I took the pictures of Bellatrix and all my new yarn outside because it is so sunny. Too bad it is below freezing or I could mow the lawns. Wait, thank God it is below freezing so I don't have to mow yet.

Bellatrix sock two

Last night I finished my second Bellatrix sock and frogged the first one. I really like the changes I made to make the sock fit better. Now I have eleven days to finish sock one (or is that sock three). Makes no difference, because the more I knit the more uniform the stitches and it gets easier with each heel.

Today, as I sit here waiting for the carpenter to come and give me an estimate on sheetrocking the upstairs bedroom, I'm watching MSNBC's primary election coverage. They have predicted that Mitt Romney will win in Nevada. It's 10:00 a.m., how can they possibly know how people will vote. Hmmmmmm

It's raining and then they predict a very cold week. I'm so glad I don't have to battle the ice on the roads and the sidewalks anymore.

Bellatrix sock two

Sock number two sure goes faster than sock one. I've been working on it for only two evenings and I already have the heel started. I may just finish both socks by the end of the month.

I finished The House at Riverton and I really enjoyed the book. I have to say the other readers at the B&N First Look bookclub are really intense. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think there is symbolism in every tree, book, flower, etc. I look forward to the author's comments.

Bellatrix the complete story part one

I just finished my first sock where the pattern doesn't have easy in the title. Of course, my plan is to finish the other sock of the pair and then rip this one out and redo it so it will fit better.

I love to press the spell check button and have it come back with no misspellings found.

Bellatrix 2 / days 4 & 5

I am almost done with sock one, which is a good thing since today is the 14th.

Last night I had to frog three rows because somehow I managed to get a big loop right after the yarn overs. I figured I'd better rip it out or I'd end up getting my baby toe stuck. I'm not very good at going backwards, I kept dropping stitches. EEEEKKK When I finish sock two, I may just rip out sock one and redo the whole thing in a smaller needle. I tried it on last night and it seems a little baggy.

Yesterday I got all my Christmas decorations put away and reorganized into the crates. I have ten crates of decorations and I didn't hardly decorate at all this year. Eventually, I may just get rid of the ones I don't use, but for now, I'll consider the crates as extra insulation in the attic closet and leave them be.

Bellatrix 2 / 3

Shopping at Ana Needlcraft in Anacortes was fun today. Didn't buy anything but row markers, but since my interests have been known to change in a heartbeat I don't want to buy too much extra expensive yarn. Still it is so nice to spend the afternoon at Patti and looking at all the pretty yarn is a definite bonus.

I finished the heel in Bellatrix last night and tonight I will work on the gusset (who thought up that word, sounds like something on a turkey). I will definitely finish sock one this weekend, so I am right on track and pretty darn proud of myself too.

The House at Riverton book discussion is going well. I find the book very entertaining and the history fascinating. I like the comparison between the family of means and the family who serve them. I definitely like the servants better, but it makes me wonder where would my family have been if my great grandparents hadn't come here. Probably nowhere as my great grandparents might never had met. :-)

Bellatrix day four

I finished the leg and I must admit the pattern is getting easier and the rounds are getting completed quicker. Unfortunately, the dogs are starting to feel the stress of being ignored and last night were both trying to climb into my lap while I was knitting. 150 pounds of dog makes knitting even more difficult, let me tell you.

I really like the yarn I chose for my socks, I'm not sure that I like the pattern though. If I knit fast enough, I may frog it and pick the other pattern.

Watching the debate while I knit and blog, sure am glad that I don't have to vote for any of the people who are on the screen right now.

Bellatrix day three

I must be getting better. Today I was able to finish two sets of the pattern (16 rows) in about an hour, while watching the Iowa caucus results on MSNBC. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of my progress.

I still can't get the picture taking right and I don't know why. Probably it's the amount of light or lack of light that makes the pictures not very clear, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they are so far off center when I download them to Flickr. Oh well, at least I'm getting some pictures and my progress logged.

Bellatrix day two

Today I knit for over two hours and completed 16 rows or two sets of the repeat. I sure hope I can finish this pair in a month, although I'm not taking any even money bets. Knitting is hard, well at least for me it takes my complete concentration.

Maybe I can blame the lack of concentration on my cold and soon I'll be cold free and knitting a pair of socks a day.