Book signing

The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, came to town yesterday and my whole family went to the crowded, unprepared library to see her - husband and both DDs actually asked if they could go....asked!! They had read the story about the squirrel and got sucked into the knitting- humor genre. You have got to love a man that will go to a meeting with a bunch of women to hear a woman talk about how funny and cool knitting is. D1 got Stephanie's signature on the Knitting Rules book and a piece of paper and then worried that someone would break into the car a steal it while we were getting ice cream cones on the way home.

Stephanie was as funny in person as she is in writing. She also seems like such an ordinary person. I actually got to touch the Dale Knitting Olympics sweater. I was in awe when I saw it on her blog, I was in even more awe when I saw it live.

I forgot my camera, but we were so far back it would not have mattered anyways. I do have a picture of DH's very slow sock. It is my first real fair isle work. I have threatened to chop off his toes to make his feet shorter- I am in the boring part that goes on and on..... It is also my first top down sock. I am almost to the heel.

Where has the time gone

It has been a busy month. Some knitting and a lot of life.
I finished DH's gloves about the time it got warm.

These I made for me. They are comfortable but quite honestly I liked the colors better on the skein than I do as a pair of socks. Brown and red - not sure what I expected.

I am working on my first Fair Isle project - a pair of socks for DH. At the pace I am going it may be winter before he gets them. I am almost to the heel on the first sock. It is also my first cuff down pair. I have been a consistent toe up sock knitter. I decided to walk on the other side ; )

Back to the Pre-Olympics Gloves

Having finished my Olympic socks, I am back on a pair of gloves for DH. The yarn is just wonderfully soft. It is Malabrigo, a kettle dyed merino from Uruguay. Did I mention it is soft? There is no twist to it so I am concerned about how it is going to wear. DH loves the yarn and has promised to treat them very gently. The weather man keeps taking about how it is getting warmer and the worst of winter is probably over here in our part of the Midwest. I find this very demotivating. However, I pretty much just made this pattern up as I went along and I was not good at all about writing down what I did. So.... if I do not finish them now the second glove may be more like a second cousin than a faternal twin. That is motivation enough to keep me knitting . I am up to the thumb gusset on the second glove. This part is pretty easy to make consistent. Let's see how closely I can duplicate the fingers.....

Olympic Gold

They are done... yipee!!! I used Fortissima Socka and thought it was a little coarse. Now that I have finished and washed them the yarn "bloomed" some. They are a good bit softer.

This was so cool. I would not have believed I could knit a pair of socks in less than 2 weeks without putting the rest of my life on hold. My mom tried them on this weekend and loved them. She was quite clear that I should finish them directly and not get distracted. It is always nice to have an enthusiastic receipient!!

Olympic Sock #1 Complete

Yipee!! I finished my first Olympic sock. I really did not like it while I was knitting it, but I pressed on. It just did not "speak" to me. Now that it is finished, I like it better. If I make this pattern again, I will refine the bead placement. I did bead-lite because I was concerned that mom would not go for too much bling.

I got about 2 inches of the second sock done tonight. This is cool.

D2's Socks & D1's Gloves

D2 used Kool-Aid to dye a skein of Dale of Norway Baby Ull. The outcome was wildly colorful so I wanted a way to set off the colors. So, I decided to alternate rows with black. They are loud, but they are very D2!!

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D1 appreciates my knitting, but usually does not want to actually have to wear it - it is a 12-year old thing!! Not to be deterred, I still make stuff for her....small stuff. Thursday night, the girls were asleep early, DH was on travel, and the dog was not psycho, so I thought I would work on posting some pictures. I just finished D1's gloves a week ago. With digital camera and 6 minutes of remaining battery, I naively thought I would snap a quick picture of her gloves.

This is where it gets amusing.... the first place I looked for them was the cabinet where we keep the hats, gloves, and scarves. WELL THAT WAS STUPID!! Why would the handmade gloves of a 12-year old be in there??? Next, I looked in her backback. Two pairs of cheap gloves, an old scarf, and lots of crumpled paper, but no lovingly made hand-knit gloves.

Then terror struck.... her Northface jacket was in the washing machine. Had I checked the pockets? Did I just felt her gloves? Why doesn't a front-loading washing machine come with a "I DON"T CARE IF WATER POURS OUT ONTO THE FLOOR, I MUST RESCUE THOSE GLOVES- STOP THIS THING" shutoff button?? I impatiently wait for the washer to get to what it considers a convenient stopping point. Northface located, but good news, bad news.... no gloves.

Where are those gloves??

At the bottom of her locker? On the playground at school? On the lunch table in the cafeteria?

At this point, what I really wanted to do was go wake the child up out of a sound sleep and scream, "What have you done with those gloves that I so lovingly made you? You need to keep up with your stuff."

I took a deep breath. She looked so peacful. She had a math test the next day. She probably needed a good night sleep. I decided to load the dishwasher.

The next morning I gently asked her where her purple gloves were. She went directly to her backback and pulled them out. "They were in the secret compartment, safe-keeping pouch, Mom," she sweetly said.

Boy was I glad I did not wake her up last night!!

Knitting Olympics

February 9, 2006

My goal is to knit a pair of Glad Rags socks for my mom during the Olympics. With my work schedule and the homework load that the girls bring home every day, this is quite a goal. We won't even talk about all the abondoned UFOs this will create.... but only for 16 days.