Frog Is A Four Letter Word

An unexpected treat from using my old laptop is finding really old pictures of finished objects. I found about a dozen pre-blog projects that I will share with you on days I have no knitting progress.

One of my favorite things I've ever made was a blanket for my youngest nibling, N#6. I'm pretty sure I made this before she was born, while they were on the adoption waiting list. I had just finished N#5's blankie and was on a roll.



The pattern is from Candi Jensen's Candy Tots. The book is packed away so I can't verify, but I'm pretty sure I followed the pattern. The yarn is of course my favorite yarn ever Cotton Tots. Here's a pic of my niece, aka Crazy!Hair!, when they visited this fall. The glasses are because my brother would freak the fuck out if I put a pic of his kids on the internet.



More FO's from the past coming up!

Thanks for the well wishes for my grandmom. She is improving, but still in the hospital. The frustrating part is not her physical decline, but the problems caused by her inability to prioritize or recognize what's important--like the need to go to the doctor.

The Get Well Shawl makes progress, though it looks exactly the same. I have turned the heels on my last Sock Wars socks. However, my final target wears a size 10, so I'll be working on these guys longer than the last two pairs.

I have picked out my next project even though I should finish up some current ones. It's a scarf to go with my second Not Spring Yet hat for my nephew's girlfriend. I know! That makes me so old! She is actually only three years younger than me, but big age differences are par for the course in this family. The scarf is a bamboo stitch from the latest knitsimple and hopefully it will be quick to finish. Though I haven't actually started it. :)

In parting, I leave you with this pic of Karmann. I was painting my bedroom this week when I heard her snoring and purring from somewhere in the house (I have no idea how she does both at the same time. But that cat is all about the noise.) When I found her curled up in my knitting basket, I seriously giggled like a seven year old. It was just so cute, like that's what cats are made to do--sleep in baskets!


To answer Jenna's question, yes I guess she always does have that green evil eye thing going. Or as Cuteoverload calls them, "eyebeams".

We've joked about the shawl I'm making for my grandmom and how she guilted me into it. I've been calling it the pneumonia shawl because me knitting her something is the only way she'll stay warm. Well, unfortunately--and I'm not even kidding!--my grandmom is in the hospital with pneumonia.

The stubborn (okay, and slightly incoherent) woman wouldn't go to the doctor or "bother anyone" to take care of her, so what was a cold turned into bronchitis then pneumonia. Now the guilt is doubled because I was goofing off in the Outer Banks half the week when I could have been here checking on her and making her go to the doctor. And my poor grandpop doesn't really know what's going on except that his beloved isn't there to tell him when to eat and go to bed. He's very upset.

So of course you know what I've been knitting nonstop for the past two days. Yes, except now it needs a new name. The Get Well Shawl. And when I'm done that, I'll need to make blankets, slippers, socks, hats, scarves and anything else I can craft with my two hands to keep the Olds warm.

Don't you wish sometimes you could give a little bit of your good health to someone who needs it more than you?

Do you guys remember the pirate vest I made for my nephew's birthday this summer? Well my SIL brought the vest to thanksgiving so I could do a little surgery on the neck. I took out the seed stitch border and just did a row of chain stitch so it could fit over the braniac's head. Oh! And I don't think I ever showed you a picture of the finished back!



Yes, those are knitting needles he's holding. I told you everyone was knitting when the power went out!

So no one really need to be envious of my trip to the Outer Banks this week. Not that you were, but just as reassurance. We made it through the Nor'easter inconvenienced but unscathed but not everyone else did. Today I am thankful for a roof over my head, a floor under my feet, electricity and drinkable water.

On a happier note, this afternoon was sunny enough to get a picture of my final Socks of Doom out on the deck.



The really awesome thing about this trip is that yesterday afternoon we braved the storm to visit Fine Yarns at Kimbeeba. What a really nice store in a cute part of town. The lady (I'm assuming the owner) was totally helpful but not smothering. And they had a great selection of needles and yarn. My favorite part was the huge bins of magazines for $2.50! Not 1998 issues either, stuff from this summer and spring that I didn't pick up the first time around.

When we came back, it was a major knit fest with a couple of my SIL's and most of my niece-in-laws. There were about seven of us with knitting projects going, which came in handy this morning when we woke up to a power outage. It was so pioneer of us! Okay, more pics when return from the Fowl Fest tomorrow night.

Greetings from the Outer Banks! I always forget what a quick trip it is from my house. For someone like myself who likes cold weather and peace and quiet, this is the perfect time to be down here. Okay...maybe not peace and quiet since there are nine other adults and eleven kids in the house with me. But that's where long bike rides come in!

And trips to the yarn shop, natch. Last time I was down here, I visited Knitting Addictiong and if I have time, I'll go back. But tomorrow I'll stop by Fine Yarns at Kimbeeba which is just down the road. Does anyone know of other places I should stop while I'm here? Jenna? I remember you were here recently.

Anywho, I am working on my third pair of Sock Wars socks (pics when I get home). The whole game wraps up this week, but I wanted to see if I could get one more kill under my belt. If not, at least my target will get a nice pair of socks soon.

What are you favorite vacation yarn shop stops?

Dude.

I feel like I'm doing an historic reenactment or something with this dialing up crap. And the plug on my old laptop is loose so every time I move it switches to battery power. But that's enough complaining, I'm the one who returned my fancy laptop and wireless cable router to my former company this week. I can't believe how much room all that computer crap was taking up in my living room!

I finished my grandmom's buddy scarf last night and mailed it to her today. I hope her buddy likes it--it will definitely keep her warm.



I used four balls of a discontinued Michaels' yarn and #10.5 needles. I really wish I could have frogged and used #13's, but I have plenty of other yarn in the stash to try that later. The pattern is Stacy's My So Called Scarf and it's so easy, everyone needs to make this scarf at least once. I dare you!

So with the dialing up and getting disconnected I will be surfing, posting and commenting less. But the good news is I will be knitting more so when I do post, it will be more finished objects! Bear with me and if you don't hear from me for a while, check your local society for creative anachronisms 90's chapter.

Specifically, Strayed, The Two Towers and Anchorman. Although I did fall asleep during the last two since I've seen them one hundred times each. But whatever, it was an evening or two of knitting and now I have a lot of scarf.



This is a ball and a half and 32" so far and I have two balls remaining. It will probably get some fringe and a needlefelted flower before it gets sent. In this photo, I strategically folded under the row where I messed up. I'm hoping once it washes and blocks you won't be able to see it. Yesterday I decided to frog the whole thing and make this scarf on #13's since I still am not pleased with the fabric. But then when I showed it to my Grandmom she said, "That's lovely dear. Is it done? Because I have to give it to my pal in church next Sunday." So I'm just going to finish this thing up and mail it to my Grandmom by Wednesday.

And don't you love those roses? One of the benefits of my p/t job is that I get really cheap fresh flowers--a huge plus while my house in on the market! One of the florists told me the name of these roses and I promptly renamed them Tequila Sunrise.

Lastly, check out this taffy art! It's like food, craft and flowers all rolled into one! GET IT? Tootsie Roll! hahahaha

The Buddy Scarf is growing in length but I'm not liking the fabric this yarn is making. I've gone up three needle sizes trying to get a drapier scarf, but it's still stiff and "homemade" looking. It seriously looks like the first scarf I ever made. Not good.

But y'all know I do NOT frog, so I will figure out a way to make this a nice scarf. Maybe washing and blocking will make it feel better. It's $1 yarn and it shows, but maybe once it's long enough and I add some fringe it will look like a $3 scarf!

In way better news...my prize yarn from Karrie arrived. She should totally call her blog Girl Who Rocks, because she sent me this huge hank of hand dyed yarn! Since I won the yarn by posing my pets with my stash, I thought it appropriate to show Karrie's yarn with Karmann.


"This is my happy face. Bitches."

The dogs are staying at Camp Boyfriend while my house is on the market, so Karmann will have to be my unwilling yarn prop for a while. Oh but she does love to lay on the skeins while I'm trying to knit. She's just warming them up for me!

I changed my links on the right to just include a link to my blogroll. I've found so many fun blogs lately that I couldn't possibly link to all of them here, so go check out my list of daily reads and maybe you'll find a new favorite or six!

Oh yeah one more thing. We drew names at my p/t job today for xmas gifts and I almost thought about knitting a scarf/hat set for the lady but honestly. I know she's the kind of person who would appreciate the work that went into it, but that's exactly it--work! I don't have time to add more handmade projects to the queue before the Holidaze so just stop me right now. She will be perfectly happy with a purchased gift and so will I!

Hey everyone! I am now offically entitled to complain for the next two years!



If you're in the U.S. go vote, I'll wait for you. Go on.

Okay, back? There has been a change of plans in the Grandma Pal scarf (which also needs a better name). I did a few repeats of the Here and There Cables and it was bleah. Then I remembered I've been wanting to do Stacey's My So Called Scarf for quite some time, so that's what I'll start this evening.

While I'm working on that, why don't you check out pictures of other My So Called Scarves? Some pretty stuff. I always love seeing how many different versions of the same pattern you can get.

It's been so great helping take of my grandparents for the last several months. They are so hilarious and entertaining--even if some of the humor comes from their forgetfulness. (Don't worry, it's them making fun of themselves, not me making fun of them.) Now all of G-mom's skill is in the kitchen or garden, let me tell you, so she is very impressed by anything I knit.

"Ooooh, what's that, dear?"
"A garter stitch dishcloth."
"It's amazing! You are so talented, sweetheart."

I know, that's grandmoms for you. You could be fingerpainting with mud and they think it's a masterpiece. Anyway, we were shopping yesterday and she had to find a gift for her secret pal at church. That's when I heard someone in my own voice say, "How about I knit her a scarf?" Oh, it was me! Did I just offer to knit another gift in November? Before I could blame the offer on someone walking down the aisle, G-mom gushes, "Oh, darling, you are SO talented and generous! Would you really do that for me? Oh, she'd love it so much!" Like I could refuse now. Haha.

G-mom offered to buy the yarn, but here's the beauty of it and one of the reasons I offered. I need to get rid of yarn! The last room of my house to be packed up is the guest room, aka Stashville. I know, a scarf won't get rid of much yarn, but it's better than nothing and certainly beats adding to it! The other reason I offered to help G-mom with her gift is because old people are on such limited budgets and since I take them the pharmacy I see that most of their money goes toward the kajillion prescriptions they take.

So I just picked out three balls of a wool blend I bought on clearance at Michael's years ago and the Here and There Cables from Scarf Style. Also while I was digging around in there, I picked out some yarn for my third (!) pair of Sock Wars socks. There was a wee bit of confusion on my next target's socks, so I'm just starting from scratch. It's okay--I'm trying to get rid of yarn!

This sock thing...it's a bit like having a drug problem, isn't it? You spend all your time and money on it, you get more addicted with each fix and people just can't believe you when you tell them about it. I don't really have an addictive perso...HAHA! I stopped in the middle of typing that sentence to refill my coffee mug. For the fifth time.

Anyway, yesterday I turned the heel on the second of my "First" socks while listening to an episode of Lime N Violet. (Thanks to Kristin for the link.) I had serious holes on the toes and other heel of these socks and that pretty much resigned them to keepers instead of gift socks. But I knew if I ever wanted to make gift socks, I would have to fix my short rows. In steps Cosmicpluto and her rockin' short row tutorial here. There are plenty of short row tutes, I know, this just happened to be the one I saw first and used (okay, and maybe BEGGED her to post).

They aren't perfect yet, but they're definitely improved! The knit side is still bumpy, but that's better than holey. Purl side:



Knit side:


Now I have tons of ribbing for the leg and all I can think is, "I need to get this sock off the needle so I can use it to cast on for another pair of socks!". The nice thing about messing about the toes and heel is that now I will have a pair of handknit socks! For me! No, honestly, I will give away the next pair. Because who's ever heard of someone with an addiction giving away their stash? See. I don't have a problem.