October, Argh!

So here we are October. I promised myself last year that I would not do it. Nope, not I. I would plan small reasonable gifts for people. No need to knit for everyone. My mental health is a valuable thing.

And we all know where that kind of thinking goes once fall hits. One chilly evening and all I can think is "who needs socks?"

Last year I did BIG projects. This year I am at least trying to think small.

So in the spirit of small, here's a wee pattern for Halloween. It would make a good stocking stuffer too, if you know any pirates. I also like these since the girls LOVE piraes right now, and I love their eyeballs, so the soft hook is a win-win scenario.

Materials: One ball chunky, cheap black yarn
One hank of plastic canvas thread in silver (the fat kind)
Optional: chunky yarn in a contrasting color. Use what you have...you could even double up some worsted stuff.

One set METAL DPN’s in a size 8. Seriously, the silver stuff is scratchy, and I do not want to be responsible for messing up your best pair of bamboo needles.

This is all based on i-chord. So simple it hurts.

Start with the black yarn and work in a 5 stitch i-chord for about 2-3 inches. Depends on your pirate's hand. Switch to the silver. Work another inch or so. Then, every other row, slip the first three stitches and knit the other two. This will cause the hook to curve. When you think it is long enough taper the end by doing 1 row k2tog, across, then next row knit the remaining 3 stitches together. Pull the tail through and work in the end.

Now you need a cuff. Pick up about 10 stitches around the edge where the silver and black meet. Distribute the stitches evenly over 3 DPN’s.

K 1 row.

K1M1 for next row.

Repeat these two rows until the circle is wide enough to cover the pirate’s hand. Then knit straight until the cuff measures abut 4 inches. If you like knit the last two rows in the contrasting yarn. Bind off, weave in loose ends, then shiver me timbers! You’re a pirate.

If I can find my notes I’ll try to also post the eye patch and hat patterns. Again, super simple.

Enjoy!

This weekend’s theme:

This weekend’s theme:

Obnoxious orange.

I mean the almost fluorescent kind.

Posting has been difficult. All personal pages are blocked from work. I can READ blogs, but I cannot comment or post. We’re trying the e-mail post today. I’ll add (orange!) photos later.

My students are testing today, so it is a lot of time to walk around and knit while I make sure each student is doing his/her own work with no undue assistance.

And what I am knitting? An orange vest!

Big-sis is a tiger cub this year at school, so I am making a vest out of kitchen cotton. Under the fluorescent here it GLOWS, let me tell you.

The vest has simple cables and bobbles to form tiger paws going up the front. The plan is to do a v-neck and have the paws continue up each side. We’ll see how that looks.

And other orange?

Two pumpkin t-shirts. We tried the freezer paper stencil thing and it worked out quite well. T Shirts were on sale at Michaels for $2, so we stocked up. This could get quite addictive. I have visions of a Spock shirt for the husband’s birthday.

And last? Ginger Carrot Soup. Very orange and very tasty!

Carrot and Ginger Soup

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 Tbsp fresh ginger, diced

2 stalks celery diced

1 medium bag whole carrots, sliced

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

Vegetable stock

Optional: Sour Cream or heavy cream

Cook the onion and celery with a pinch of salt in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger ands sauté for a minute. Add the carrots and sauté for another minute. Add the potatoes and enough stock and water to cover all the vegetables. Simmer for about 30 min until all the veggies are tender. Puree using a blender until smooth.

Add the sour cream or cream if desired. My girls like it with skim milk.

Hmmmm...

I am actually out of things to knit.

I know! Can you believe it? Even the spare project is done. I do have a sock I need to finish for my dad, but I can't find the second ball of yarn, so I might need to buy a new ball to finish.

So it is time to turn to holiday knitting. This year I start early. I plan simple short projects.

Right.

So we were at the mall a few weeks back and the Muz (the girls grandmother) let it be known that she could use a lace shawl. After some not-so-subtle questioning on my part I surmised:

1. She prefers rectangles
2. She prefers cotton (hot flashes and wool do not mix)

So I am thinking of starting a Print O' the Wave stole by Euny. I did a medium sized patch of it a few months back to experiment with lace, and I really like the way the pattern works. I have some Valley Cotton from Webs. (As I have mentioned I LOVE this stuff). Once the girls are in bed I think I will give it a try.

Really...who needs lesson plans? I'm sure my students will understand.

I should be writing lesson plans

Seriously…but I’m not. So there!

I got my fabulous hurricane sock in the mail over the weekend from Laura (but I do not know the address of her blog…will post it once I know!). Just look:

Isn’t it pretty? I have to say I am rather nervous about finishing the other. Just look at her stitches:

Aren’t they perfect? What if I can’t match it?

Oh, and the yarn. It is Sockotta, by Plymoth. I love that it is a cotton wool blend. I can totally see using it for Christmas gifts this year. Great stuff. Plus the name sounds like SOC CAH TOA, which makes my inner math teacher happy (it’s a memory aid for trig, sin, cosine, in case you're curious)

Plus she sent some fun spa stuff that I am just waiting to try out. It needs free time, which I could use, soon.

I had a moment at work today where the line for the copier dies down, and suddenly I was ALONE in the teacher’s lounge. I realized I hadn’t been alone in like 5 days.

Our building is super full of students this year, so I am roaming during my planning periods. Supplies are a mess…I was given 3 dry erase markers for the year. I have a friend that was given three strips of staples and tools to “make it work!” Despite this all in high spirits and the school year is getting off to a good start. Teenagers are teenagers, but mine generally behave, so I can’t complain.

So for personal knitting, I finished my hurricane sock and mailed it out. I am hoping she doesn’t hate me forever. The yarn was a tad on the *bright* side. I think it turned out well, but I hope she doesn’t need to stare at her feet…it could cause vision loss.

I am almost done with a baby blanket. We have like 5 impending babies, between family and friends, so I am cranking them out. I’ll post a picture and hopefully a pattern. I have an easy formula that is quick, cheap, and works for boys or girls. We’ll see what you all think once it is blocked.

A few folks asked about the raglan sweater from the last post. I really isn’t have a pattern…just used the basic raglan formula and did a picot edge. I meant it to be for little sis, but it grew, if you get my meaning. I tend to be loose on gauge, so when it is something I plan to knit for both I start by making one for little sis, so in a worse case scenario I end up with the bigger one done first.

In the next few days I have a pattern submission to send off. We’ll see how that goes.

OH!! I totally forgot! The pattern I sold to Elann is up. They used different colors than I did, and I really like the way it turned out. Go see!!

Kitchen Cotton + Raglan =

One snappy new sweater!

(Warning, this is mostly about sewing)

We are in full back to school mode. I return to work tomorrow (deep sigh). Big sis starts kindergarten in a week, and little sis starts preschool.

The girls are still small enough to tolerate handmade items, so I'm on a roll. The sweater is done in Sugar-and-Cream kitchen cotton. It is top down, no seaming. It took about 4 days to do and used about6 balls of the cotton. I was going to redo the neck, make it less wide, but out Kindergartener-to-be says she loves it and thinks the neck is fashionable, so who am I to argue?

Here are some skirts I finished yesterday:

The red is for big-sis’ first day of Kindergarten and the blue is for little sis.

I have finished several for myself, including:
AND finished the valences I started for this house before we moved to Florida a year and a half ago:

I am totally crafting-for-avoidance. I want to go back to work, but I don’t want to leave the girls. The thought of kindergarten is scary. She is SOOOO ready though, she is counting the days on a calendar. Her school is great, and she rides the bus to my high school in the afternoon, so I really cannot complain.

I am done, the sewing machine is put away for now. I need to finish some socks for presents, so it’s back to knitting!

How knitting saved the day

I have always been someone that travels pretty light. Before the upswing in my knitting I could manage a 5 day trip with a small backpack.

Then started the knitting.

Now, I still take the same volume of clothing, but once the knitting is added I need a good sized suitcase.

The husband, oh he of infinite patience, thinks this is ridiculous. But he tolerates, because he is patient that way.

So we went to Williamsburg to see the family and a few friends. So I had to bring the car-knitting project, the mindless-knitting-while-visiting project, the kids-are-busy-so-I-can-concentrate project. Plus, extra yarn.

We went to visit a high school buddy of the husbands and his new baby. About four hours before we headed over there we realized we had no baby gift. What to do?

Knit a bib, borrow a button from my stepmother, and go visit a new babe. He gooed once at the bib, and then it was taken over by his big-sis Emma. Quite popular.

And on the way home the husband actually said "Good thing we had all that yarn in your suitcase!"

Notice the WE...

I wish I had pics, but the husband is back in Florida with the camera.

Home

Our house in the snow, 2004

We are back. We’ve been in the house for ten days. We’ve actually almost finished unpacking. This is my 16^th move in 33 years…you get to a point where you just gotta get it done.

It feels so good to be back. Just the thrill of running into someone I know at the store is amazing. Of course this also has it’s drawbacks. It is very embarrassing to buy wine from one of my students at the grocery store. And I do not buy any undergarments in Richmond. Too much risk.

I remember when I was in high school the attendance secretary was spotted purchasing undergarments by a classmate. It was the biggest piece of gossip for WEEKS. Small town, small school, but still, I take these threats seriously.

Which makes my husband laugh, since I have the most boring life ever when it comes to high school gossip. “Did you hear, she knits….socks!”

The camera is still with the husband in Florida. So there are a few “see, we really have unpacked” pictures, but no knitting. I'll try to put one up tomorrow.

I have finished a hat for little sis. Something to help with her big hair this fall. Full of innovations. And it’s pink.

I am trying lace yet again. The trellis scarf from IK (maybe this spring?). I am finally able to do it, and am really making progress. I have realized I was knitting way too tight. This is one of the problems with knitting in isolation in Florida, no advice from folks that had been there. I generally do like to figure things out for myself, but knitting advice is well appreciated.

This is one of the things I am VERY excited about. There are multiple knitting groups here. Lots. As in more than none. I can interact with other humans face to face and not be the only one knitting. Once the husband returns from Florida I am planning on getting out of the house.

I finished all my back to work orientation the other day, and got though it admirably knitting away on a snappy wool/silk scarf I started ages ago. It is getting very long, but there always seems to be the same amount of yarn in the ball. It is some great Elsbeth Lavold stuff. I have come to think that the yarn is magic. Really, the ball stays the same size. The thing has so much of my life over the past few months knit into it. I’s my “in between projects” project. It has been to playgrounds, trains, airports, cars, doctor’s offices, job interviews, the list goes on. It has a great soapy smell, that yarn.

That's the short update. I have a lot of knitting I've been working on. Don't let me forget to tell you the story about eh value of a traveling stash. I actually saved the day with knitting.

Three days left

Oh boy, what a mess. I am mired in the move, so I am sorry if I am a bit behind down here.

Seriously, I can barely find the floor. Like a fool I packed most of my yarn in the load we took up last week, so I am left with a totally odd assortment of stuff. You know how it is, the few balls of knit-picks will in impossibly odd colors.

I did manage to finish one hat for little-sis. I think I also have enough to do mittens for this fall.

I asked her what she wants in a mitten the other night on the phone (the girls are staying with my parents during the final chaos of the move). She thought for a minute, then said she wants a thumb that can open. She's a thumb sucker. I am trying to think of a way to work it without ending up with a spit soaked mitten. Knowing her if I do not figure out this bit of knit-geneering she just will go gloveless is the frosty wasteland that is Richmond in January.

We leave on Saturday. Big truck full of furniture. For the record I turned 33 this April and this is my 16th move. Wish us luck!

Blog...what blog?

OK, so we are SUPPOSED to be driving to VA with the girls today. Like right now.

Except for the van is in the shop, or the "car doctor" as the children call the mechanic. It was doing this funky thing where as you speed up the AC, lights and radio volume would go up, and as you slow they went down. Fun for like 3 minutes.


The house is 33% packed and 100% messy. I am not even pretending that it could be clean again.


Plus big-sis is currently obsessed with spelling things. She is like THIS close to reading.

Problem is I do math, not spelling. You should have heard her huff when her dad told her I had spelled dinosaur wrong and she had to fix it on all the pages of her notebook. (What?!? There's no "E"?? Betcha you can't do partial integration!!). Her exasperated "mom is losing it" glare stung, I tell you.

Oh, and the server is down at the school board office, so the kids in the online class I am teaching are in a bit of a panic. They have a midterm next week.

The one oasis right now is my knitting. I am rolling away on my hurricane swap sock, I think I have the kinks in the pattern worked out.



I actually submitted a pattern somewhere...fingers crossed.

So I have all day to pack, and balance the checkbook, and stretch the last of the food for one more day.

And try to figure out what to knit in the car tomorrow.

Oh, here's little sis posing in the vest I mentioned last post.












The yarn is some leftover KnitPicks stuff I had. The pattern I made up as I went along. Moss stitch center, stockingette along the sides.


I used a tubular cast on...I am obsessed with this cast on now...it makes things look so nice!


Here is a real shot:


Sad part is I had to go outside in the rain to take this...there is not a clean surface in the house!!

So, where have I been?

Right now I am on the top bunk of an Amtrak sleeper car, heading south to Florida. Both girls are giggling in the bunk underneath me. It is 9:30 and they usually do not calm down enough to sleep until about 10. We have traveled by train a lot this year. We love it.

For the past week we’ve been staying with my folks in VA while I got started on the online class I am teaching this summer. Summer school is always an interesting mix of kids that need to pass to graduate, and kids that are trying to get ahead. It is a good group this year, ranging from 14 to 19. Quite the mix.

You’d think since I spent all week staring at a computer that I would have been able to post once, but no. This has been very consuming. I have done algebra online in the past, not geometry, so this is a new experience.

I am working on several things right now. A sock for my hurricane sock swap gal. I started doing the Pomatomus pattern from knitty. I love the pattern, but I kept making all the YO’s too big, especially the ones between the needles. I would like to try the pattern again to get it right, but since this is for someone else I want it to look better. It was getting huge holes where the YO’s were. You could use a toe in those holes. My fault, not the pattern. I’ve been too distracted to do fidgety technique.

So I am trying my own thing. On a side note, I have NEVER completed someone else’s pattern. EVER. I have started a few. I am always attracted to something with a new technique or pattern. But I quickly get tired and frog.

So it is with this poor sock. I am doing something simpler with ribbing and meandering Yo’s. Small manageable YO’s. I like the look so far. I’ll add pictures once we get home.

Home…another side issue. We move in three weeks. The girls are only down for two more weeks, then they get to stay with my folks while the husband and I drive up to VA with all our worldly possessions. How many boxes are packed?? Do not ask.

I did manage to get the office /yarn room painted while we were in Va. The room has two great walk in closets. One is big with shelves all the way around.

The other? Cedar lined. Yes, cedar. Even the floor. Even the ceiling. When we lived there before it was mostly full of baby clothes. I have come to my senses and ditched the baby clothes and accumulated a lot more wool since then.

Time to fuss at the girls. They are singing to the moon about roly-poly bugs. Loudly. At home this might be cute, but other people here are trying to sleep. Usually they play little house on the prairie, so I am not sure why we are on the roly-poly kick.

Goodnight! I’ll upload this sometime tomorrow.