Stocking Pics

This is girl #2 posing with her (almost) new stocking. Sorry for the blur, she's 2.5, and has a hard time being still. At the library this morning the walked straight into a fish tank. Close call.


For a more representational pose, here is Girl #2. She almost never has a hard time being still. She's our thinker.

And notice the window. They are on our back porch, where it is freakishly warm. It was 80 degrees today. 80!! It is snowing and in the 30's in Willy right now.

It is odd here, but I could get used to going to the beach in December.

I have the kick ups

I don’t know if it is the thumb sucking, or the fact that at 2.5 Girl #2 can fake burp already, but she almost constantly has the hiccups.

And I suppose it is sweet, since she thinks I can fix anything, but it means she spends a lot of time in my lap waiting for the “kick-ups”, as she says, to go away.

So it is only mindless knitting around here. We have about half the stocking done. I am not currently crazy about the design, but once her name is stitched in, and the snowman is applied, it should improve.

Any excuse to not pick up the cable vest, right? I do like working on it, but you know how it is, you pick up a project you haven’t touched in a while and it takes 30 minutes to figure out where you are. By then some small child has gotten a head stuck, or found a spider, or let the cat outside.

As a side note the poor cat had to be rescued three times from the backyard yesterday. He’s huge, 25 pounds, no fat, and he is terrified of the sky. And yet he craves the outdoors. Life is about contradictions isn’t it?

Can you tell I taught math? Here's the mock up. I tried working in her name, but had to frog it. Duplicate stitch is the name of the game. I am working it in the round in this great Galloway yarn I got from Knitting Sisters in Willy. Red and white, to be lined in ginham. The snowman will be crochet separately and sewn on for a 3-D look.
If it's sunny I'll take photos tomorrow.

Whew, we made it.

The girls and I are HOME.

We took a train from Richmond to Florida. We left yesterday at 5 PM and arrived down here at 1:30 AM.

I love Amtrak, it is great for travel with kids, but if you actually need to ARRIVE anywhere on time, forget it.

The trip was grand, but I am a bit down in the dumps to be back. As an army brat I always considered myself pretty adjustable, but this move to Florida has really thrown me. I think somewhere in the back of my head I keep thinking of it as temporary, so why bother.

Rowan Felted from Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg

So what to do when in a funk? Knit, of course!

I finished the Grape Ape socks. Just need to weave in the ends, block lightly, and mail off on Monday.

I didn’t touch Dad’s vest once while we were gone, so I need to start zipping away on that. I am also planning on starting a stocking for Girl #2, who is borrowing one from the husband. We’ll see. I have visions of all this fancy Nordic design, lined in red and white gingham. How many days until Christmas?

I had hoped to make it back up to Willy around Christmas also. My brother and his new fiancé will be there. Alas, my in-laws are coming here, and we still don’t know for how long…ten days? Two weeks? We’ll find out when they leave.

Unfortunately the season also brings all sorts of knitting distractions. Cookies to make (like 7 or 8 dozen…eeek!). I have been trying to convince the husband for years that since he is a writer he should do the holiday cards. After all I, the ex-math teacher, do the checkbook. No dice there.

And don’t even get me started on Santa stuff. How am I going to hide all that??

Off to drink tea and plan a stocking.

Cheers!

More yarn from knitting Sisters in Williamsburg

Must knit socks

Must finish socks. Must mail socks to secret pal. Must not touch new yarn.

OK, so I have been doing good on the socks considering the fluster of the holidays. I even got a good six hours in on during the 12 hour ride up here, but today...temptation.

The Parental Units gave me an early Christmas present...a gift certificate to the Knitting Sisters here in Willy! Yeah!

So today we went over and I got to pick stuff out. I'll post photos ASAP, but the computer here (if it really can be considered a computer) lacks USB drives. I got Rowan tweed, some red and white yarn to make Girl # 2 a stocking and some other stuff, red wool with some other colors twisted in.

Can you tell I am being too lazy to go upstairs and check the labels??

In any case, Knitting Sisters has moved to a swank new location. Same shopping center, but much more space and a new room for classes. What a great store. Plus, now that we are out of Florida there's more wool available. I love the wool.

The best part is that my stepmother is going to take a knitting class this December. She is grand at all of the other needlecrafts (even made my wedding dress!!) and now she's trying knitting. The more the merrier!

(and apologies for any speling mishaps, working on substandard equipment here...and while I can do derivatives in my head I can't spell at all)

Adios from Williamsburg!

Gobble Gobble

Well, we leave for Willimasburg tomorrow morning. I should be able to post, but Dad's computer is knda like trying to drive a pinto uphill in an ice storm. In other words, slow going.

But, I do have the digital camera along, so when we return I'll have snappy photos of knitting on the road.

And how typical is this, I have spent all day getting everyone else ready. It took me 15 minutes to pack my clothes and such, but it is almost midnight and I still haven't decided on all my knitting.

Have a great holiday!!

Grape Ape Photos

Have I mentioned how much I love this yarn? Louet Sales Opal. Love it!! Soft and seems like it will be very durable. Best sock yarn I've used.

The sock is a bit baggy in the photo. It is for my Sox Exchange person, and her feet are bigger than mine. Still, I think you can get a good idea of the grapes and how they will look.

Once the husband gats home I'll try to get a better photo. Have you noticed how hard it is to get a good sock self-protrait? I am just not that bendy anymore.


One final note, someone had mentioned using the grape ape cable for a scarf. I think it would work very well (might even try one myself!). I would recommed making the bobbles bigger so they stand out. For the sock I just did 3 stitches for the bobble...I thought anything bigger might make it look like the wearer had something wrong with her ankles, and we don't want that. For a sweater or scarf a four stitch bobble comes out better, more grape like.

Not much doin'

I'm just here plugging along on holiday knitting. Once we have more batteries for the camera I'll post some photos. The first "Grape Ape" sock is done. Needs blocking, but otherwise turned out OK.

And an amusing story from the family:

So the husband is telling the girls their bedtime story tonight about a girl named Yawnifer, who only liked to do boring things and eventually marries a guy named Yani.

Girl #1: Like what boring things?

The Husband: Oh, like watch TV, or read books about dirt, or nap…

Girl #1: Did she knit?

The Husband can’t answer, he’s laughing too hard.

This is the respect for knitting we have around here. Deep sigh.

And the weiner is....

Seriously though, no one is a weiner. But we do have a winner. And I have to say, y'all are fast! Most folks got it right, I forgot to include one of the symbols on the chart. The corrected version is here (click to make it readable):

And our winner is….imaginary drum roll….Just So Carfty!!

Here’s a shot of her new Grape Ape Stitch Marker.t is being tested on my dad's vest, but it will be free in time to make the mail on Monday.

As promised, here’s some of the stuff from Sit and Knit. Amazing place. I know, badly lit shots of yarn are a bit dull, but in the pic you can see the beginnings of the grape ape socks. I turned the heel today, so I should be able to show a picture of how it looks knitted up soon. Also, have you tried Louet Sales sock yarn. Soft? Yes! Machine Washable? You bet! I love this stuff, it is knitting up wonderfully.

I'll try not to gush too much, I wouldn't want the folks at Fiber Protective Services thinking the yarn and I were inappropriately close.

Now, it’s Friday. I have had the hardest time thinking of a question for today. Really, I got to go to a real yarn store, so my fiber curiosity is fairly well satiated right now.

Still, I have only been to four real knitting stores in my time, all have their good and bad points. For instance, I know displaying yarn to the ceiling looks good, but I am only 5’ 1 ¼ ", so a bit impractical. And I can’t be the only one, I can’t imagine the Globetrotters knitting.

So what works for you? What are you looking for? Selection? Location? Helpful staff? Sale rack?

What makes a great local yarn store?

Fabulous Prizes!

Well, really if you look behind door number three, and really squint you might just spot it.

So I put up the Grape Ape cable pattern…one tiny problem. Did you spot it?

It’s nothin’ big, it would still work, but it might leave you scratching your head a bit. I'll correct it tomorrow. Since I went a bit crazy the other day making stitch markers, I figure I’ll offer one to the first person that can spot my dumb error.

So, whoever e-mails me the mistake in the chart first gets a fabulous grape ape stitch marker, free!

And I have stuff from by odessy to Sit and Knit yesterday, but no photographs yet. The girls and I had a great time, and we got stuck in traffic for over an hour coming home and I got one skein wound into a ball and a gauge swatch started. I love swatches!

And a tip…your house needs cleaning if you go to photograph you new yarn and cannot find a clean surface to put it on. Really! So I’ve got to go tidy up a bit. If I let that alpaca touch any surface in this house I’d have Fiber Protective Services here to take protective custody of the stash.

So I’ll update this latter with pics. Fun stuff!!

Grape Ape

Grape Ape Chart is done!


Finally! Here's the chart.

Still working out the details on the socks...pictures to follow.