Pickin' and Throwin'

Miniature hats take a lot less time

2009-10-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Here is the current state of my my "boring tan sock yarn" that matches yours:

I'm thinking about what sort of sock I'm going to make with it -- probably an original pattern. It was soooo great to visit with you, even if only for a couple of hours, while I was in Fort Wayne a couple of weeks ago! Next time we'll have to make sure we have some time to knit...

I've had a whirlwind week at school, and let's just say that I survived, even having to leave early yesterday to care for my sick seven year old. 41% of my ortho grade was determined within a span of 24 hours (and included three different, though all high-stress, assessments). I also had to give a 20 minute presentation for a different class on Tuesday, but now I am virtually done with that class for the rest of the year. Big sigh of relief, so today I'm here to tell you about actual knitting progress.

I finished the pair of Tofutsies socks on our way home from Fort Wayne:

I used the "Diagonal Lace" pattern from the Wendy Knits book "Socks from the Toe Up." It's the first time I've used the "heel flap" style on a toe-up sock:

It will be interesting to wear these socks which contain fiber from shrimp and crab shells...

I also finished a cute little hat ornament, shown here with a can of soda for scale:

I *LOVE* the beads! It is from a Blackberry Ridge kit, "Mini Hat and Mitten Ornaments," and there should be enough materials for me to make all of the ornaments shown on the front of the pattern. I'm not sure if I'll keep them or give them away as gifts... Nice to tackle something which I can finish in a reasonable amount of time given my schedule these days.

I am contemplating making sweatshirt/hoodies for DH and the boys for Christmas. Recall that I did this last year, and though I finished them at the final hour, it was not without a certain amount of stress. I get done with classes/exams on December 22nd, I think, so not sure if such an idea would be wise with the rest of my obligations... Well, actually, I'm quite certain that such an idea is *unwise* and *unrealistic*...but isn't that how we knitters/sewers are? Anyway, stay tuned to see if sanity reigns or not...

I hope this finds you all well! I'm going to go make another knitted ornament :-)

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Happy Anniversary!

2009-10-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Oh, it was so fun to get to see you last weekend! Too short, but that's always the way of it. And how fun to figure out that it was 10 years ago in the fall that we traveled to Duluth together and came back knitters! (And you first started suspecting that you were having a baby!) What a great trip. I look back at that time and marvel that so much of how I thought my life would be 10 years later (if I had indeed thought much about it) is nowhere near how the reality has turned out to be. High on the list of "I wouldn't have believed it if you told me" is the size of my stash - not to mention all of the things that I have knitted!

We took a look back at that trip when we started the blog almost four years ago. I thought I'd post a link to your story, and also to mine. I think that if on that trip we had tried to look forward 10 years to what we might be doing, if we had accurately predicted our knitting obsession in any fashion, we would not have predicted the yarn that we both purchased on our Anniversary Trip to the yarn store! Probably even if we had discussed it before we walked into the store, we wouldn't have thought we'd each buy this:

Tan-colored sock yarn! But we have a long term plan that will be revealed in the fullness of time.

As I mentioned, I posted to the blog 3-4 times while I was at Stitches Midwest, and due to some convergence of the planets in the internet arena, all of those posts disappeared into cyberspace, never to be recovered. I'm (mostly) over my bitterness, and I'll catch up with posting soon! ;)

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)
-- Post From My iPhone

Done Done

2009-09-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

Dale of Norway pattern book:

$12.00 each.

Yarn to make Ibenholt sweater:

$100.00 each.

Being completely done knitting two Ibenholt sweaters for the rest of our lives:

Priceless !!!!

(Sharing a great hobby like knitting with your mom: Also priceless!!!! Hi Mom :-)

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Ibenholt Ibenholt

2009-09-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Well, school started about three weeks ago, and I am swamped. It's all interesting, though still a lot of work.

Let's talk about Ibenholt. I knit this sweater for myself about a year ago, and it has been sitting waiting for me to sew in the zipper since then. Also, my mom was making the same sweater at the same time, as a sort of "knit along across the miles." You may remember that my mom reached the point of "being done" with her Ibenholt sweater last spring, when my dad told me to finish knitting it for her because my mom wouldn't let him talk to her when she was working on it, and she was working on it every night...so I brought it home with me at the point of dividing for the fronts and back. I managed to finish knitting most of it while we were on vacation at the end of August, so last weekend I finished sewing the sleeves in:

This means that I now have **two** Ibenholt sweaters, both at the point of being done except for sewing the zipper in... I am motivated to have them done within the next week, however, because we are going to a Brewers game with my parents, and so will see my parents, and I can give the sweater to my mom *in person*. I thought about mailing the sweater to my mom, but I am taking no chances of losing it in shipping...

Speaking of the Brewers game -- DH is a Phillies fan. He read a book some time ago called, "The 33 Year Old Rookie," and the author, a guy named Chris Coste, was so inspiring that DH started following the Phillies because they are the team that finally gave Chris Coste a chance in the majors. So, for the past couple of years, DH has been trying to figure out a reasonable way to go see the Phillies play. A few months ago, DH purchased tickets to a Brewers vs Phillies game which will be played in Milwaukee toward the end of this month. YAY -- a dream come true, except that about three days *after* he bought the tickets, Chris Coste was traded to the Astros... Anyway, it's been decades since I've seen the Brewers play, so I know the game will be fun, none-the-less...and my mom will hopefully be wearing her new sweater (I *am* going to get that zipper sewn in...).

In completely unrelated news, I found two little home-made sets of shelves at a rummage sale, in a nice lime green color. Here is one of them sitting in our garage:

I painted them white, and now they hold all of my school books and some sewing stuff. It really cleaned up my work room quite a bit, getting rid of three crates and opening up floor space where my school stuff was housed before. I still have some organizing to do in my work room, but this is a nice start:

Notice my Ibenholt sweater patiently waiting for me to sew in its zipper...

Well, I'll take a photo of my mom and me wearing our twin Ibenholt sweaters and share it with you. I hope you had a great time at the Stitches Midwest Market!! Of course I'm expecting a full report :-)

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Sock O Rama

2009-08-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Thank you for fixing our blog graphics, and for cleaning it up in general! Much improved! Also, nice to have our header back...

Here is some sock yarn I bought back in May, in colors I wouldn't have normally gravitated to without my mom telling me to get out of my comfort zone:

It probably seems tame to you, but the green in particular seems odd to me, though I'm committed to making socks out of it and wearing them proudly. Also, does anybody have any suggestions for patterns (other than plain stockinette) which would work well with the Kaffe Fasset stripes, shown on the right in the photo above? I was thinking about Monkey socks, but the pattern might be lost in the colors/stripes? (Also, Cindy G, that is a "top down" pattern, just sayin'.)

Second, you've seen both sets of these socks in progress, but now they are finished. This pair is just a standard toe-up short row heel pattern using Trekking yarn, size 1 needles:

They don't match, but that is part of their charm, right?! It's not clear to me that the yarn had actual pattern repeats in it, so it's not my fault :-) so the perfectionist side of myself is being forced to just "let it go."

This next pair is the "Gusset Heel Basic Socks" from the book "Socks from the Toe Up" by Wendy:

A close-up of the heel:

To orient yourself, you are looking at a lateral view; the part on the left shows the back of the heel, and the part on the right shows the bottom of the heel. My 9-year old took these photos, and he told me that I would have to tell you exactly what you are looking at, because it's not otherwise obvious. It is an interesting heel construction, and quite different from any others I've made, though it's much more straightforward than typical short row heels which involve lots of wraps and turns, so in that respect, this would be a good choice for less experienced knitters, or for knitters who are not overly fond of lots of wraps and turns (ahem).

I'm working on another pair of socks from the same book, called "Diagonal Lace Socks." This pattern utilizes a more conventional heel style (Sl 1, K1 every other row, etc), though worked from the toe up, and I only had to wrap and turn 8 times during the whole thing (for eight short rows, while turning the heel).

This yarn is TOFUtSies, made of 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton, and 2.5% chitin. I was curious about making socks out of something that came from shrimp and crab shells, and I don't know why that makes it antibacterial, but there you have it! Nice yarn, to say the least...

I also have three sweaters which I dug out of hibernation, and which *SHALL BE FINISHED* before I even think about casting on for another sweater. I hope to have at least one of them completed before my next post (which may even happen this week -- just warning you, because I know that it could catch you off guard -- but hey, I have no classes for more than two weeks!!)

More soon!

Have a great week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Sweater bands, take two.

2009-08-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

First, I don't know where our blog header is. I suspect my DH might have done something with our web repository (moved it?....so the blog can no longer access the proper files??) - I'll try to figure out what is going on with that so our graphics return to their rightful places...

Second, you have some of the most unusual projects I've ever read about. I think you're the only person I've ever known who has assisted in building a windmill. Also, the only person I've ever known who had to retrieve her sheets out of the treetops. And, there was that cow sling thing that you knit... My sweaters/socks pale by comparison. Maybe I'll try to knit in a tree or something...

I have two very large tests next week, so I thought I'd take a little time right now to procrastinate by posting to our blog. After Wednesday, I'm *DONE* with school for the summer. Then I have two weeks off to clean our bathrooms, mop the floors, haul the dust away, and get myself and the boys ready for school... I've got lists of things to accomplish; if I get even half of it done, I'll be thrilled.

Remember my Basic Chic Hoodie? I really love the pattern and the way it's turning out, and as I work on it, I keep thinking about what other colors or stitch patterns I'll use when I make the next one of these. For now, however, I really should focus on what I'm doing...for example, when picking up needles to knit the front band, I maybe should have checked the actual needle size called for in the pattern *before* I completed the entire front band. Here it is with size 6 needles:

Difficult to see, but perhaps you noticed, ahem, some significant puckering, which didn't look nearly as bad when it was on the needles, really....but it was too much to try to block out and live with, so I ripped it all out and re-knit with size 7 needles, as called for.

I used "one-row buttonholes", which are my favorite ever buttonholes, over three stitches. And, instead of following the directions for number of stitches to pick up, I did my usual "pick up three stitches for every four rows" method, and I came within two stitches of what the directions suggested. Also, the directions have you make the left front and right front bands separately, and then seam the right band to the left band where the hood seam is. I decided to pick up all of the stitches at once and make both sides at the same time, so no seam. Just a few more stitches to bind off of the front band, and some additional finishing, and I'll post a picture of me wearing the completely sweater (which seems to have taken forever -- school has really cramped my knitting productivity).

It's a rainy, rainy Saturday, and I really have to get back to studying. In my next post, I'll have some sock yarn stash enhancement from a couple of months ago when my mom made me buy bright colors I would not be inclined to purchase on my own (which I know you don't believe actually happened), as well as two pairs of finished socks.

More soon!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

Tulips it is!

2009-08-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for helping me decide to make this lovely sweater for Katelynne. I didn't quite get done on time for her party, but they came to visit a few days later, so she is all set for cool weather.

I made the 4T size, which is a bit big but all the better to grow into. I still love this pattern, which is good since I have so much of this yarn!

I was delayed in starting this sweater when I took a few days of knitting time to work with my brothers on some windmill repair for my aunt, and to help haul away the remains of a tree they took down for her. (My brothers are grand men!) My part of the windmill consisted of painting the red on the fins and taking pictures. My parents and two nieces came along for the installation and we had a great day! More pics can be seen here.

Great job on the slippers! I've been trying to decide how to make my moms slippers 'non-slip', so thank you for posting about that.

Keep knitting!

Cynthia

-- Post From My iPhone

Summer of slippers (update) and appendicitis

2009-08-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I have a free moment today, because the rest of my family is out of town right now. School has been extremely busy, but great. Only a week and a half left of the summer session...

First, status on the Sand Hill Crane family which hangs around in our neighborhood:

They walk through our yard once or twice a day, going from pond to pond in the neighborhood, and eating flowers on their way (which has been annoying to our neighbors). These birds are great fun to watch! The little guy is getting so big!

Okay, so when I last wrote, I had some ballet slippers knit but not felted. Here are two pairs of ballet slippers, both knit to be the same size, one pair felted and the other pair not felted:

Here is another pair, which I felted at the same time as the ones in the above photo, and which were knit to be a smaller size, but which ended up being about the same size:

I am wondering if that is because they are a lighter color??...since lighter colors often don't felt as well?

And, I made two sets of clog slippers (one for my nephew, and one for my 6-year old) that look a lot like this:

I wanted all of these to be anti-skid, so I did some research.

I read about using puff paint on the bottom of the slippers, applying it as cute little shapes, which then dries and is non-skid for a short while, but which would have to be re-applied every so often.

I read about using some stuff that can be purchases at Menards which people use to dip tool handles into in order to achieve a rubber coating on them, but this looked messy, and if I messed it up, there was no way to get it off of the slipper (and to be honest, it looked rather industrial, and not like a cozy slipper).

I read about using caulk (as in caulk like you apply around the top edge of a bathtub), but this also looked quite messy and industrial.

I finally decided I'd go with some anti-skid fabrics. I tried two types.

The type which has the little raised foot shapes was made out of canvas, having edges which unravelled significantly, so I serged around the edges in order to contain the threads, prior to sewing them onto the slipper bottoms.

Yesterday was the big party, and I gave away four pairs of slippers to all of my nieces and nephews, and they were LOVED by all of the recipients (they all put them on their feet and started walking around with them on outside).

Also, by some strange twist of fate, they all *FIT* the feet of their intended wearer, too! I felt like I won the lottery, except without all of the money...

In unrelated news, a few weeks ago, my brother noticed a slight pain in his lower right abdomen. Then he put in a new floor. Then he ran a 10K race. More than a week later, he thought he should maybe have it checked out by the doctor, but he had two days remaining to work in order to get a perfect attendance (for the quarter) award, so he went to work for two more days, and finally took himself to the emergency room. They determined that he *may* have an appendicitis, so they took him to surgery that night, where they realized that his appendix had ruptured, who knows how much earlier, but sometime during the prior week, and his insides looked like hamburger. So, after a much larger incision was made to scrape out the infection and rinse his insides, he ended up with a six night hospital stay. He lives in the area, so I was able to visit him in the mornings and walk around the unit with him... He's doing much better now, and we're all breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I've actually finished some other projects, and have made some progress on some languishing sweaters. More on that very soon! (Did I mention that I have only a week and a half left of school for the summer?)

Have a great August! (August?? -- already??)

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)

What do YOU think??

2009-07-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, I'm almost finished with my current toddler sweater! I just need to knit the sleeves and do the finishing, which you know in my fevered imagination will only take a couple of hours..... ;)

And so obviously it's time to decide on my next project. My great niece Katelynne will be turning 4 at the end of the month, and so I have a couple of choices. I had planned to make 'Kitty,' the sweater that I made for Lydia's 4th birthday last May. However, I've made FOUR toddler sweaters in the last 4-5 months, and they have all been raglan sweaters with lace skirts, so it's possible that I should shake things up a bit. I do also have the yarn and pattern to make another 'Tulip' sweater, so that is an option.

It all started with the One-Skein Sweater for a baby shower:

I modified that (my own design) for Josie:

Then I did 'Kitty' for Lydia:

And finally, I'm doing 'Helena' for Maya:

So, please help me decide!! (Oh, and I have to get started in the next few days....just sayin')

Online Surveys & Market Research

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Let's try again!

2009-07-09T12:43:00.001-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Hello - I hope you're still enjoying your summer. I suppose you're keeping busy - how are the slippers coming? I just realized last night that I have never felted mom's slippers - I gave them to her big - so I'd better get busy on that!

My current 'project of focus' is a top down raglan sweater with a lace skirt for a toddler. Yes, it should sound familiar, I've done at least 3 variations of that in the last few months. This differs in that it called for DK weight instead of fingering. I'm modifying it by using an Aran weight (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.) Since I'm using a larger yarn, I'm making a size 18 mos in order to get the desired 4T size.

A dear friend of mine and her husband are currently in Haiti, finalizing the adoption of a little girl. I think she was 6-9 months old when they began the process, and now she is somewhere close to 3 years old. I remember that she was pretty big for her age when they first met her, so I'm hoping the sweater is a little roomy, but at the least not too small!

I remember when our friend Ross came back from spending a few years in Panama, he could no longer tolerate any air-conditioning or cool weather for quite some time. Makes me think that a little girl who has spent her whole life in that climate is likely to find Northern Minnesota rather chilly on summer evenings and once fall/winter arrive, so I'm hoping this merino/cashmere blend will be snuggly!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

-- Post From My iPhone

Technical difficulties

2009-06-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings Dear Readers:

Yes, we are experiencing some formatting weirdness. We'll endeavor to figure it out and get back to normal as our schedules allow. (I'm really hoping that posting from my phone wasn't the culprit -I really like that convenience!!)

**Edited to add: Well, it seems my last post was somehow the culprit, so I've taken it down. Guess we'll have to do without the picture of the Fuzzy Feet! I'll try to show them to you when they're felted!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Much ado about nothing...

2009-06-20T08:53:00.001-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Before I forget, YAY that your mom now likes hand knit socks. It's always a gamble when I make socks for somebody (and I've had one recipient who point blank told me that she is not going to wear them, then kept them anyway), so I'm so glad that your mom is recognizing their virtues!

Nice to have this past week off. The boys and I are in that "zone" in which we are trying to figure out how to coexist together again 24x7 without driving each other mad. I estimate that two weeks into the summer, things will resume their even keel; until then, I imagine a continuation of conversations similar to this one (an actual discourse at out house yesterday):

6-yr old: Mom, my cereal smells weird.
8-yr old: Maybe you slept in too long...
me: ????

In the early evening last night, my 8-yr old asked me if I was having a bad hair day... I don't know what might have caused that...perhaps the baseball cap I was wearing earlier in the day, or the tennis I played in the heat and humidity, or the laundry which was enough to work up a sweat, or maybe getting rained on as I was waiting for him to get out of the pool when they called it quits due to thunder during swim team practice in the morning....

I've had some time to knit as I've been waiting for my kids during dentist appointments, sports stuff, etc., though given that it is only short bursts, it has been mindless knitting. And, in my efforts to pull together and develop a plan for completing all my works-in-progress, I've only succeeded in starting a new one, because all of my mundane WIPs are at points requiring thinking, such as turning a heel, picking up buttonhole bands, etc, so I reached for the dishrag cotton. Here is the Circle Dishrag, which I saw on somebody's blog (though my brain has been on the fritz this past week, so I can't remember whose blog it was) and decided to try it. It is probably one of the most "three dimensional" dishrags I've made, and is an easy pattern to memorize. It was going to be very large, so I cast on 34 stitches instead of 46.

Later today, I hope to felt my ballet slippers, so I'll try to post some before/after snapshots yet this weekend...

I forgot to mention to you that during my clinical, I had the opportunity to observe an entire surgery! I watched a "hip resurfacing," an operation taking about 2.5 hours, and something that I was working with patients on beginning "post op day 1" to start their road to recovery. I credit my cadaver lab of a year ago as giving me the "stomach" to not get at all woozy during the procedure. Really, it was very interesting, and gave me some insight into what goes into some orthopedic surgeries.

Coincidentally, I've been noticing some minor hip soreness the past few months which I really can't attribute to sore muscles, and I'm beginning to be concerned about the possibility that I may be developing some osteoarthritis. To give my hip joints a break, I decided to take the summer off from running, and so will be biking to school every day (as weather permits) as well as using the elliptical trainers at the gym instead of the treadmills. (My anatomy professor from last summer always used to tell us, "Exercise is bad for you." As you already know, I don't believe that, though I think we should listen to our bodies, too...)

Here is a sandhill crane in our back yard, eating some of the bird feed we put out there:
I didn't want to scare it away, so the picture is through a window/screen... The neighbors have named it "Rupert," and it typically traipses through our yard every evening between 7:00 and 7:30pm.

Okay, so I really have to crank on some filing this weekend, so that's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Laura (YarnThrower)

My Mom and socks....

2009-06-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

My mom has been on my 'No socks for you' list since I was knitting my first pair of handknit socks, and she laughed at me and wondered who on earth would want to wear wool socks. Even when other people praised the socks that I made for them and she started to get curious, I told her no. (I lent my dad a pair after his surgery when his feet got cold but he never wore them.)

Mom had been dropping hints that she needed new slippers. (One of her friends made them for her out of Red Heart, but she has given up knitting, so the worn ones can't be replaced.) Dad just asked if I could knit some for her, but mom explained that she'd blown that years ago. (They don't know that I'm making Fuzzy Feet for her up-coming birthday!) When he mentioned again about her cold feet, I agreed to lend her a pair of my wool socks.

I kept forgetting to ask how she liked them, but last night she sighed and said "I may as well get this over with. Do you want these back or can I keep them?" I just laughed and told her she can keep them. I asked if she likes them, and she admitted that she does. She said that she always thought they would be itchy but they didn't itch a bit! I told her, "Mom, you should know I only knit with good yarn!"

So I'm working on felted slippers for her, using this Lambs Pride Worsted Paint in a pretty Cranberry Swirl colorway. I think she'll like them.

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

Back to work!

2009-06-17T07:40:00.001-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Well, not nearly so much fun as last weekend. We are having our company picnic today, so that is some fun at least. If I get a good picture of Lauren winning the three-legged race with knitting needles in her hand, I'll post that tomorrow!

For today, here is another FO from the archives. This is 'Mable,' also from Heirloom Stitches. They really have wonderful patterns! I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and it was a great yarn for the pattern. The lace kicked my butt a LOT but I finally got it.

And here is a picture of the birthday girl on a cool spring day, wearing her new sweater!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

-- Post From My iPhone

The highlight for today....

2009-06-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

The theme for today will be driving, as I am heading for home soon. Before I hit the road, I thought I'd give you a peek at one of my finished objects from the last month or so.

Introducing 'Kitty' from Heirloom Stitches. I used 'Feet First' yarn from Cottage Fiber, which is a wonderful yarn. It's put up with 490 yards, which is the most generous I've found, and one skein completed this sweater. I made a size 4, for my great-niece Lydia. I didn't worry about stopping at the proscribed length, I just kept going until I judged that I didn't have enough yarn for another pattern repeat. The part of the project that gave me fits was that the pattern asked me to do purl/yarn-over combinations, which I'm not a fan of. I'm planning to do this sweater again, but I'm going to change it so that the yarn-overs come after knits, and I purl two together instead of knit two together. The sweater looks really good on Lydia tho!

And now I'm going to take Renata on a quick trip to choose yarn for a bag that she wants to knit and then I'm heading for LaOtto. I'll leave you with one last picture of my two new knitters and I!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

New Knitters

2009-06-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

I'm really enjoying my visit in Kenosha! Today my Goddaughter Isabella (5) and I visited Fiddlehead Yarns. I was looking for some DK wool for a crochet project and I found some Dale of Norway Falk in 7 colors. I already have 3 colors of Rowan Pure Wool, so I have 10 of the 13 colors that I need.

I brought a learn-to-knit kit with a book called "Gigi Knits" for my Goddaughter Renata (8). After lunch, we did the first step, winding a ball. Later she cast on 25 stitches and has worked about 2" of garter stitch! She's doing really well, and she's already learning to decide what level of wonky she would rather have than frog. Isabella is also learning and doing well. She's still more comfortable if we work together, but she's learning the motions and steps.

-- Post From My iPhone

Slipper-o-rama

2009-06-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I love your idea of posting shorter posts more frequently! Fun to see what you're up to, and I hope you enjoy your stay in Wisconsin (though seeing as it is "God's country," how can you not?)

My clinical finished up yesterday. I was "working" in a hospital for four weeks, and similar to my hospital clinical in January, I was reminded that smoking does really, really bad things to your body (not just in the lungs), and if you're going to drink excessively, then don't try ascending/descending stairs, or you may fall and break your neck, quite literally. It's always sobering for me to spend time in a hospital, and it makes me thankful for my relatively good health, and also gives me ammunition to use when I'm trying to teach my kids about making good choices.

I received a $25 gift card from Barnes and Noble, and so I purchased a book I've had my eye on for months:I don't spin (yet, and really, I won't until my kids are out of high school, really!), but the book offers manufactured yarn alternatives, and I loved so many of the designs in the book.

In a moment of insanity, I decided I was going to make slippers for my nieces and nephew for a "cousins birthday party" which has become my family's tradition in August. Instead of holding six separate parties for all of our kids during the year, my mom invites all of us over for one big party which is more about being together as a family than it is about giving big gifts to each of the kids. And so, I'm making some little gifts out of stash yarn (Cascade 220). I'm using this cute pattern for the girls: ...though I don't know which pattern I'll use for the one boy. (Any ideas out there?) I'm sort of "winging" the size on these (note that these are really the same size, but due to my "trick photography, they look different):I will go ahead and felt the first two pairs as soon as they are knitted just to make sure I'm in the ball park.And, still plugging away on the socks: I love it when I get past the heel on a toe-up sock, because then it's just about mindlessly knitting around and around, which I actually like.

That's about it for the knitting news. I have next week **off**, and plan to do two big things with my time:
1.) figure out what I have "on the needles" in the recesses of the house, and make myself a "schedule" to finish it -- I always do better when I create a little urgency on something, and I know there are at least two or three sweaters sitting around which are very "close" to being finished
2.) clean the house! (yeah, right, like that will happen, but if I don't at least put it on a list of things to do, then there's even a smaller chance that it will happen...)

Have a great weekend!
Laura (YarnThrower)

Hello from chilly Wisconsin

2009-06-12T19:47:00.001-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

The news for today is that I'm having a lovely visit in Kenosha! I arrived this evening, and soon after Kathryn and the kids arrived back from a week in MO. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend.

Here is a picture of my stash acquisition from Three Bags Full in Northbrook IL, my Chicago stop when I come north. It's Malabregio sock yarn in a rich mossy green colorway. Mmmmm.

-- Post From My iPhone

Found object

2009-06-11T13:27:00.001-07:00

So I'm just going to try quick bits instead of official BLOG POSTS.

I've been really overwhelmed lately, so I've been cleaning closets and storage areas to help cope. Today I finally found this bowl, which sat on my Grandma Schroeder's dining room table when I was a child. It had wax grapes in it, but I loved the grape-purple color and the interesting shape. After it became mine, I bought beaded fruit for it, but it has all been packed away since my last move (2003 or 2004.). I knew it had to be somewhere and today I hit the jackpot!

-- Post From My iPhone

Toe-up socks and baby booties

2009-05-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

For Mothers' Day, I bought two copies of Wendy's book, "Socks from the Toe Up," gave one copy to my mom, and kept the other one :-) I also gave my mom a 47" circular needle, and some sock yarn. I was expecting her to visit the following weekend, which she did, and we spent most of that time together exploring the local yarn store scene, and knitting socks.
This was the first time my mom had tried the magic loop technique, the Turkish Cast on, and knitting a sock from the toe up. We wanted to at least get past the heel before she had to drive home, to get through all of the new techniques before she had to leave. Here's my mom's sock in progress just before her departure from my house:In the book, among many other techniques presented, Wendy has a gusset heel, which is a different heel from any other non-flap heel I've made. I think it is clearly the easiest, because it doesn't involve any wraps and turns, nor yarn-overs, so that's what we used for these socks. Here's a close-up of Wendy's gusset heel:I'm still plugging away at the other socks I was working on, too:I also made a pair of baby booties for a new arrival, using this seamless baby bootie pattern:
These were made with worsted weight yarn, though still size 5 needles. They are a little large for a newborn, but should be just the right size in fall for this Minnesota baby. One pair takes about three hours to make, and are mindless enough for social or TV knitting.

In news about real life, I'm officially a "second year" PT student now. I'm doing another clinical rotation, again at a hospital, though a different hospital than where I was in January. It's a lot like having a full time job, though I have to say that I'm enjoying the break from homework and exams. In another four weeks, it's back to summer school.....

One more thing -- another plug for exercise! There is smooth muscle which lines our arteries, and it is this smooth muscle which executes the functions of dilating and constricting those blood vessels, based on signals it gets from various circulating chemicals. When you exercise, you increase the amount of blood flowing through your arteries, and this causes nitrous oxide to be released by some cells lining your vessels. Nitrous oxide is a vaso-dilator, which means it makes the diameter of the vessels bigger, which, in turn, lowers your blood pressure, since larger vessels have less resistance for the heart to push against. And, this higher level of nitrous oxide carries over to your resting state, too, which could help lower overall blood pressure! (Yay for exercise!)

Well, I hope you're enjoying this Memorial Day weekend! My neighbor is a double leg amputee who was a prisoner of war in World War II, and knowing him and his wonderful spirit is quite humbling to me.

I hope the weather where you are is as nice as it is here! My kids are outside washing their bikes; I'd better go check on that situation...

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

Long Time No Post...

2009-05-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Today is not just Mothers' Day; it is also the day of my first final exam of the semester. I can see the light at the end of tunnel, and after three more tests and handing in a paper, I'll see the light even more clearly! Anyway, Happy Mothers' Day to any mothers out there who happen to be reading!

There's been some knitting, but not a lot. Here is a rectangle I made for a friend, whom I'll call "Jane," who started a patchwork knitting project maybe a decade ago and is in the process of sewing it together for her daughter who turns 18 next week... It is kind of a neat idea. Years ago, she asked many of her friends to each knit a 14"x14" square, and she supplied the yarn and a rough idea of how many stitches to cast on. Each friend then knit a square in the pattern of her choosing. In the past week or two, Jane started piecing together the blocks, and realized that she was short one block, so she asked me to "pinch knit" (did ya' catch that quasi reference to a term used in your favorite pastime?) a square for her, but since many of her squares didn't exactly meet the dimensions, Jane asked if I'd make mine 10.5"x13". So, here's the square (technically a rectangle) I made:I was supposed to write a note about why I picked this particular pattern. To me, this lacy zigzag is feminine without being too delicate, having a clear direction though able to drift to the right or left for the greater good....you know, stuff like that.

Also, a dishrag to have on hand for a little gift as needed:Finally, I mentioned I'd start talking about the many benefits of exercise. A lot of people already know that there are cardiovascular benefits from aerobic training. The cardiovascular system delivers the oxygen to the cells that need it during exercise (muscles). This is only one piece of the puzzle, however. The cells themselves are modified over time with repeated exercise bouts. For example, people who train regularly will have an increase in the number of mitochondria in muscle cells. Mitochondria are the "power plants" of the cells. So, when the heart delivers the oxygen to the cells, now the cells themselves extract the oxygen from the blood more efficiently, too, reducing the required load on the system at rest. So, it's not just about the "delivery" of oxygen; it's also about "extraction" of oxygen once it gets to its destination. Isn't that cool? Is anybody still awake? Walking is great exercise, by the way!

It's warming up, so I've been biking a lot more. It's a welcome change from running, and it takes about the same amount of time to get home from school as if I'd taken the bus -- with the added benefit that I'm not tied to only the times listed in the bus schedules. Plus, biking just makes me feel like a kid...

Here's a really fun puzzle we've been working on:And, my six-year-old's version of a "house of cards," which I told him I would post on "the blog":Okay, so I'd better start studying for the exam I have tomorrow!

I hope this finds everybody well!
Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

The Saga of the Sheets

2009-04-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Hi! I really will get a regular post up one of these days! Things are calming down, as of right now no one is coughing, throwing up, in the emergency room or cardiac ICU, and the next scheduled hospitalization in the family is a good 3 weeks away.

(Oh, I did have to relate a little tidbit from the recent past. My parents now have the same cardiologist. My dad had a chest cold that caused heart complications - it started the day after my mom got her pacemaker. 2 weeks later he landed in the ER at Lutheran Hospital, and mom's cardiologist walked in - the one who had prescribed her pacemaker. He saw my mom, smiled and said, "Mary! Did you get your pacemaker?" Then he put his hand on her chest and said, "Yep, there it is!" I had to laugh - your cardiologist is the only man who can greet you by putting his hand on your chest! He also said that God obviously made them for each other - they both were having similar symptoms - rapid, uncontrolled heart beat. I thought that it's pretty good, after 50 years, they still make each other's heart race!)

Anyway. The Saga of the Sheets. (I posted the beginning of this tale of Facebook, but now that we have the rest of the story, I thought it should be an actual post.)

Last week, I switched back to my old mattress/bed set, because the queen set my parent had given me turned out to be too firm. My old set is full size, so I was excited to get my treasured sheets out of storage - high thread-count cotton in a striped pattern with my bedroom's hard-to-find shade of blue included. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, so I washed them, and hung them on the line while I headed to the yarn store to knit. I noted as I hung them that there was barely any breeze, unlike two weeks ago when I worried whether or not the clothes line (umbrella style) would hold up.

I came home later in the afternoon, and found the clothes line bent over to the ground with two pillowcases and the mattress pad still attached. The flat and fitted sheets were missing. While glaring at my dog, Purl, I searched the yard all around the house, and down along the creek bed, but there was just no sign of them. I couldn't imagine that my parents had picked up the sheets, and left the rest, but I went inside and announced, "If she chewed up my sheets, I will kill her."

My mother was looking out the back windows, and she pointed and said, "The dog is not your problem."

Across the creek, in the top of one of the Very Tall Trees, hung the fitted sheet. The flat sheet was wrapped around a branch on another tree. The fitted sheet was about 50 feet above ground - the flat sheet about 40 feet.**

That was some thermal up-draft. And rogue wind gust.

In my family, your general laundry problems fall under the purview of the females. Males are usually only involved when the machinery breaks down, and now it seems, when the laundry is relocated to the tops of the Very Tall Trees.

My dad called my brother and mentioned something about sheets and trees, so Andy drove over with a 6' pole. A vastly inadequate solution. They shook their heads and pointed and said things like 'climb, chain-saw, gun...' Probably there was mention of beer as well; I try not to listen.

The thing with the fitted sheet was that it was hanging at the tiny end of a long branch. The other sheet was wrapped around a thick branch, near the trunk. While it was UP HIGH, it was theoretically within reach. The fitted sheet was the problem.

Andy returned at dusk with a gun, and took a few shots at the branch with the fitted sheet, hoping to ....I don't know, shake the branch enough that the sheet would fall off. Dad came back out and they discussed different caliber, trying to shoot the branch at a point where it would break and fall.....whatever.

(I will stop to point out that while these sheets were expensive and have been discontinued and it took me 2 years to find some that I liked, and I generally LOVED these sheets - while they were shooting, I was surfing the web for replacements. Just sayin’)

I posted the story to this point on Facebook that evening, and the next morning my Pastor brought a sling-shot that shoots tennis balls to church, and gave it to Andy to try to hit the branch with.

However, by this time the fitted sheet had gotten wet in the rain and blown free from the tiny branch it was tangled in. It in fact blew back toward the clothes line and landed in the yard about 15 feet from where its journey started! 1 sheet recovered! (Yes, Andy and Pastor were disappointed that the sling-shot didn't get a try.)

That left the flat sheet. Waiting in the sidelines was my nephew Aaron. When he heard about the problem, he got a gleam in his eye. He's a lineman for the power company, and this was a personal challenge. If we could recover the fitted sheet, the flat sheet was his. Now all we had to do was wait for the rain to pass.

Wednesday was the clear day, and we got the call after supper that they were on their way over. His wife, three little girls, my parents and I were the audience. He and Andy crossed the creek by fishing boat, and then attacked the tree. It was amazing to watch - as he neared sheet, he had to unhook his strap twice to get past branches, and I know that I stopped breathing at that point! He grabbed the sheet, stuffed it into his sweatshirt, and shimmied back down, all without incident! Click here for a slideshow of the pictures.

So, mom got most of the stains out, and last night I slept on my rescued sheets.

Yes, it's true. I'm a magnet for the weird-ball stuff.

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

** I adjusted the height that the sheets landed based on Aaron’s estimates. Go with the pro, that’s what I say.

Seeing double

2009-03-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I meant to blog three days in a row, but then I got bogged down with doing our taxes, and my kids had a half day of school...and on another day I visited my Grandpa in a nursing home in Milwaukee:
Isn't he handsome? (That's what *he* always tells me, too!) This is a photo my mom took of him on Valentines' Day. He used to work at Schlitz Brewery, which doesn't exist any more, but Miller Brewery is making the Schlitz recipe, and Grandpa thinks it's pretty good.

Do not adjust your computer screen. This really is a photo of **two** Ibenholt sweaters:Mine (on the right) is all done (including blocking) except for sewing in the zipper (will that saga never end?). The other one is my mom's. She is doing great with it, even though she has found it quite challenging. Recently, she got it into a minor mess while dividing the fronts from the back, so I told her I'd bring it home and fix it. My mom is no longer feeling the love for this project...so I fixed the issue and put in a lifeline to preserve what we have so far (and it's helpful for Mom to know that if something goes haywire, all is not lost).

I'm going to work on it for a while to help progress it a little bit farther, to give my mom's psyche a chance to heal, and to give my dad a break. He wishes the sweater would go away -- "I can't even talk to your mom when she's working on it...every night!" My mom knits quite a bit looser than I do, so I've been consciously trying to match her tension -- it's working out surprisingly well.

So, I've been thinking about motivation for exercise. Historically, I am able to maintain exercise programs the best when I am meeting somebody to exercise. I used to run with my neighbor when I lived in Fort Wayne. We would meet at around 6:00am, run and chat, and I loved it. She was one of those people you could discuss all kinds of stuff with, and she was fun on top of it. There is something about the pressure of not letting somebody down which forced me to get out of bed and go. And, since it was generally dark at this time, I felt safer running with somebody else. So, my first motivational tip is to exercise with a friend.

Since we've moved to Wisconsin, I haven't found anybody on a similar schedule or motivation level to exercise with. I've tried various exercise routines on my own. When I just had one child, I think I wore out the wheels on my stroller with all of the walking we did...but that was difficult to maintain during winter, or when it rained, and to be honest, I wasn't very consistent with it.

At some point, I received the results of some blood work, and my total cholesterol was over 200. At that point, I decided I really needed to be proactive about exercising, so I joined a health club. I had two kids at the time, and there was free child care for them, and since they weren't going to preschool, it was nice for them to play with other kids while I spent 45 minutes working out. The incentive of "I'm paying for this membership" was helpful for my motivation, but what really got me going was this:DH's health insurance has a "Fitness First" deal in which the employee's spouse may earn a $50 gift card to Best Buy for working out 150 times in the span of a year. I don't know why this has been so motivating for me, but for the past two years, I've earned the gift card. It's not like it's a ton of money, but the challenge of getting all of those workouts in, and then getting free iTunes (which is how I used my gift card this last time) is a challenge that I accept and conquer. I keep track of which days I work out for at least 30 minutes, and I include the days I ride my bike home from school, or the days I run outside, or the days I run on the treadmill at the gym. It has resulted in two and a half years of maintaining my exercise regime, the longest I've ever been able to do that.

Ultimately, though, what it really comes down to is this: A decision/realization that the benefits of exercising exceed the benefits of *not* exercising. The more I've learned in my PT classes, the more I'm convinced of the importance of exercise.

Okay, so more on that in my next post, when I'll talk about some exercise myths, some of the multitude of benefits, how much is enough, "but I don't *enjoy* it," etc...

Until then, think about this: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being on the low end and 10 on the high end, how important is it for you to exercise regularly, or to begin exercising regularly?

If it's anything greater than 1, then consider why *didn't* you rate it as a 1, and think about the possibility that this may be something important enough to do.

Happy Spring!
Laura (YarnThrower)

Child's Crew Neck Sweater

2009-03-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

A pattern by YarnThrower
(This pattern is the property of YarnThrower and may not be reproduced except for one copy for individual use. If you otherwise print or distribute this pattern without YarnThrower's written permission, you are stealing.)

This is a basic child's crew neck sweater. The front, back, and sleeves are all knit separately so that the little knit stitch "vee" parts of the stripe stitches are all "right side up". (If it doesn't bother you to have cuff stripes with the little "vee" parts of the stitches "up side down", or if you will not be making the sweater with striped cuffs, then feel free to pick up the sleeve stitches from the shoulder and knit down to the cuff, reversing all of the shaping.) The shoulders are joined together with a three-needle bind-off.

The intarsia on the front of the sweater may be anything you'd like, or leave it plain. On the sweater pictured, I followed the ideas I learned here (scroll down to the bottom of the page). I did a web search on "Knitters Graph Paper" to find a site which prints customized graph paper. On that site, I input the exact gauge I was getting in my knitting, and I printed out the resulting graph paper. I then went to MS Word, found a font I liked, and printed out a really really big letter directly onto my graph paper. I would recommend printing the letter using a light color, such as yellow, so that the graph paper lines show through well. This results in an instant "chart" for making an intarsia letter on the front of the sweater.

Finished Size: This sweater, as shown, has a 31 inch (circumference) chest measurement.

Materials:
Gedifra Shetland (80% Wool, 20% Alpaca) dark gray with flecks, 4 balls.
Gedifra Shetland (80% Wool, 20% Alpaca) off-white with flecks, 1 ball.

Needles:
Straight or circular size 8 to hold body stitches.
16 inch circular size 8 for collar and top part of sleeves.
Double Pointed size 8 for lower part of sleeves.

Notions:

Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch

Pattern:

Back:
Cast on 70 stitches.

Working back and forth (in stockinette), purl 1 row, then knit 1 row, then purl 1 row.
This will curl the bottom edge just a little bit.

Then, work ribbing as follows:
Row 1: Using Main Color, *K2, P2* across to last two stitches, K2.
Row 2: Using Main Color, *P2, K2* across to last two stitches, P2.
Row 3: Using Contrast Color, Knit across row. (This is done to avoid obvious "purl bumps" when the color is changed in the midst of ribbing.)
Row 4: Using Contrast Color, *P2, K2* across to last two stitches, P2.
Rows 5-6: Repeat Rows 1 and 2 (except using Contrast Color).
Row 7: Using Main Color, Knit across row.
Row 8: Using Main Color, *P2, K2* across to last two stitches, P2.
Row 9-10: Using Main Color, repeat Rows 1 and 2.
Rows 11-14: Repeat rows 3-6 using Constrast Color.
Row 15: Using Main Color, Knit across row.
Row 16: Using Main Color, *P2, K2* across to last two stitches, P2.
Row 17: Using Main Color, repeat Row 1.

Continuing with Main Color, Purl across next row.

Knit across next row, now working stockinette stitch until work measures 18 inches long (91 rows total stockinette). On last row, knit across 22 stitches and place those stitches on a holder. Bind off the next 26 stitches. Knit across remaining 22 stitches and place them on a holder.

Front:
[If an intarsia design is planned for the front, figure out where the design will be placed. (I planned my design on knitters' graph paper on a 1:1 scale with the actual gauge of my knitted fabric, and then held it up to the already finished back in order to decide at which row I would begin my intarsia.) For the sweater shown, the design (big A) was 30 stitches wide by 40 stitches high. The bottom of it was placed on the front of the sweater beginning with the 30th row of stockinette.]

Work the front the same as the back, except adding intarsia design as desired, and until 80 rows have been worked, ending with a wrong side row. Work measures approximately 2 inches shorter than back at this point.

Begin neck shaping.
Left front:
Knit 27 stitches and place the remaining stitches on holder. Turn work.
Bind off first 2 stitches and then purl across to end of row. Turn work.
Knit across. Turn work.
Bind off first 2 stitches and then purl across to end of row. Turn work.
Knit across. Turn work.
BO 1 stitch and then purl across to end or row. Turn work.
Work in stockinette until left front is the same length as back. Place these 22 shoulder stitches on stitch holder.
Repeat on Right front, reversing shaping to make it symmetrical to left front.

At this point, there should be 22 live stitches for each shoulder, and 16 live stitches remaining in the middle section.)

Attach front to back at both shoulders using three needle bind-offs with right sides together.

Neckline: Using main color, and beginning with stitch immediately to the left of the center back, pick up and knit 14 stitches in back, 10 on left side front, knit across 16 stitches in middle section of front, pick up and knit 10 stitches on right side, and pick up and knit 14 stitches in back to end up at center back.
Pattern Row: K1, *P2, K2* (repeat between ** until last three stitches), P2, K1, using colors as follows:
Rows 1 & 2: Work Pattern Row in MC
Row 3: Knit around in CC
Rows 4 & 5: Work Pattern Row in CC
Row 6: Knit around in MC
Rows 7 & 8: Work Pattern Row in MC
Then work three rows stockinette and bind off LOOSELY!

Sleeves: CO 36 stitches. Joining to work in round, work cuff same as given for lower ribbing.
In first round after ribbing is done, work Increase Row: K1, M1, knit to last two stitches of round, M1, K1.
Continuing in stockinette, increase every 4th row 6 times, then in every 5th row 10 times. (There should now be 68 stitches.) Continue until work measures 14 inches. Bind off. Make second sleeve the same.

Finishing: Sew front and back together beginning at lower edges and for about 10.5 inches. (There should be about 7.5 inches remaining on side edges for sleeve placement.) Sew in sleeves. Weave in all ends. Block.

Vacation is hard work

2009-03-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Happy St. Patrick's Day! DH made green pancakes for the boys this morning, and we're all wearing the green fleece hoodies I made for Christmas gifts (well, except for dh, because he had to work today -- somebody has to have income around here to keep this train on the tracks -- and so he is wearing a shirt and tie).

I finished my really warm bathrobe, just in time for the 70 degree weather predicted for today: (In addition to my other cleaning plans for this week, it's clear I should add mirror washing to the list.) I had so much extra fleece, and a bathrobe pattern I sewed years ago, so the only real cost for this was my time. I revised the pattern to take advantage of fleece's non-raveling properties. To eliminate bulk along the front shawl collar fronts, I sewed them wrong sides together, and then used a rotary cutter with a special cutting wheel in it to make the edges scalloped:( My photography today is worse than usual, because I'm in a hurry to get more of the basement cleaned out and then go running in the nice weather...) I used the same trick on the tie belt:And, here is a hazard of living with two small boys: My six year old loves to follow directions to piece things together, and he is confusing our upstairs hallway with the roof of a hospital. As long as I don't trip on it while carrying a laundry basket later today, it makes me smile every time I step over it...

After today's excitement of basement cleaning, I'm going to tackle our taxes tomorrow. You probably think I'm getting a little wild and crazy, but it IS spring break.....

I'm going for the record, and will also try to post again tomorrow (making it THREE days in a row). I've been thinking a lot about the topic of motivation lately, something important for PT's to consider as they prescribe exercises to patients, since lack of compliance to home exercise programs can be a problem... So, maybe a few blurbs about that tomorrow.

Have a great Tuesday!
Laura (YarnThrower)