So Much For That Idea

 I am so sorry. I had intended to post almost every day in November, but life didn't let me. I got sick. I was sick for a week, got better for a couple days, than got sick for another week. I even missed Thanksgiving. I caught some virus first. It's been awhile since a virus has been able to make me feel that miserable! I get the flue shot every September so it was unexpected. Symptoms were nausea, every joint in my body ached-badly, and my skin hurt, along with a nasty goopy cough. While I was down the cold germs pounced, and I was so stinking busy the whole time too. Ugh! Fortunately, the cough part is finally going away. I'll be very happy not to go through that month again.

I did manage to post updates on my Facebook page every day on the things I knitted during the Facebook fundraiser for the American Cancer Society I blogged about previously. I had a goal of $250. I got $139. Not the goal, but not a complete failure either.

During November I finished the dog sweater I was making, or rather, re-making for Zoey.

Pattern: Basic Coat from A Dogs Life by Patons
Made For: Zoey

Size: Customized Large

Yarn: Cascade Yarns ® Pacific® Solids

Content: 60% Acrylic/40% Merino Wool, Worsted Weight

Color: Celery

Yarn: Premier Yarns Everyday Worsted Prints

Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Lagoon

Needles: Circular size 5 and 7

Started: August 23, 2024
Finished: November 30, 2024

Comment: I shortened it about 2 inches. I don't like it that way, though, so I will not do it again. It also took me a long time to finish it. It was a struggle knitting while I was sick.

Here is the underneath.

This is above.

This is Zoey thinking "I look good!".

I worked on the first Chicken mitten too. This pattern is very challenging. Every row is different so I can't get a rhythm going. So much counting too.

That's as far as I got. I needed to put it aside for awhile to work on a 3rd Christmas present project that came to mind, which I can't post pics until after Christmas. I was browsing Pinterest for funs and ran across a stitch pattern that made me think "I know someone who needs this in a pair of fingerless mitts." I wrote up a quick outline of a design and knitted them. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I took a couple days off from knitting because stress, then started a Clapotis, which is a scarf/shawl pattern from the online magazine Knitty.com. It was once extremely popular on Ravelry, back when Ravelry was still fairly small. I think practically everyone had made it except me. I don't wear shawls. The pattern is now 20 years old, so Knitty started a knit-a-long in honor of it. It's about time I knit it.

In the last two weeks, while I was working on the knitting, my husband was going to a cardiologist about his heart, getting lots of tests. He has an arrhythmia that is starting to be a real problem. He had a Cardioversion, which worked for about 2 days, and the arrhythmia came back. So he's going in for surgery on January 2 to have an Ablation. It's supposed to cure the problem permanently. This is the added stress that pushed me over the edge. I've not seen my husband feeling this bad in a long time. Since his stroke almost 10 years ago. He's usually so strong, energetic, and sure. I tried working on the chicken mitten to finish it but I kept making so many mistakes. I couldn't do it this stressed out. The brain was not cooperating. The Clapotis has been perfect! Easy enough for the brain to grasp it, but with an easy yet interesting stitch pattern.

Somehow I managed to get the Christmas shopping done, the tree up, and the house decorated. My daughter, Ruth, has been a tremendous help too. Couldn't have done it without her. We also made a few dozen gluten free cookies to send to my daughter and daughter-in-law in Rhode Island, and I made some Cranberry Freezer Jelly for the next years worth of chicken and turkey sandwiches.

Dang! No wonder I didn't blog. I've been busy.

In December we had a bit of snow which has almost all melted this past week, but mostly rain. It's going to be a snowless Christmas this year. We've been getting quite a lot of rain this past week. It's been in the 40's during the day, which I've been enjoying. It will change. We've crossed the solstice line and the weather usually gets very wintery past that. 

The day before yesterday I managed to plug up the kitchen sink drain while I was making dinner. Ugh! It took awhile, and all three of us, but we got it unplugged and I am no longer putting potato skins down the garbage disposal. It can handle all kinds of stuff, including bones! But potato skins make it drop to its knees in defeat. 

I've bought a knit afghan kit from Mary Maxim. I've wanted a ripple afghan for decades and never made myself one. I've made them for lots of other people though. Anyway, they were having a good sale so I took advantage of it. It will be purple and white, of course. I plan to start it after Clapotis is done. I will work on it for awhile. Maybe put it down for a bit, then pick it back up, whenever I need to knit something easy. In the meantime, somehow I've got to get myself to get back to the chicken mittens.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Lesula Socks

 The second Christmas gift is done.

Pattern: Lesula by Rich Ensor

Size: Mens 8

Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Fabel

Content: 75% Wool, 25% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: 100 Natural

Yarn: Hayfield Regal 4-ply (discontinued)

Content: 80% Wool, 20% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: Pasture

Needles: ChiaoGoo circular size 2

Started: October 2, 2024
Finished: November 1, 2024

Comments: This was an extremely fun knit for me. I pretty much knit it as written. No modifications. Nice pattern, well written.

This cool stripe runs down the back. It hides the jog that occurs when knitting stranded patterns.

Here is a close up of the main stitch pattern. By the way, the darker yarn is a teal blue heather.

There is a stripe pattern in the gusset. It's the first time I've done that.

The sole has the back stripe pattern repeated several times.

I hope the recipient will be happy with them.

~~~~~~~~~~

I am doing the Knit and Fundraise Challenge held by the American Cancer Society. I will knit every day in November, then post progress photos and keep track of the time.

Knit Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society update:

I knitted a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes yesterday. Actually, I probably unknitted more than knitted. I finished the cuff and it was way too tight. I frogged back to the Picot hem and upped the needle size. That fixed the problem. Now I'm back where I was when I decided to frog. I've started into the main stitch pattern.

Here's hoping it goes better than it did when I first started.

If you're willing to support me and make a donation to ACS, just click on the picture below.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Knitting For ACS

 I have decided to do the Knit and Fundraise challenge held by the American Cancer Society. I've lost so many family members and friends to cancer. Especially in the last couple years. I fill the need to help them out. I will knit every day in November, then post progress photos and keep track of the time. 

It's being held on Facebook. I have a special Facebook page where people can donate. It's supposed to be public so if you go there and can't get on it, let me know in the comment section below. There's a donate button on the page, and all money goes directly to the American Cancer Society. I don't touch a penny of it.

The ACS holds top ratings from Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau, Wise Giving Alliance, and Candid. They are fighting for a world without cancer. So give with confidence!

If you're willing to support me and make a donation to ACS, just click on the picture below.

I thought I'd post the knitting updates here too. 

Speaking of knitting updates, how about the first one. I finished the socks. I just need to block them. I will post pics after I get that done. I finished them today, then I immediately cast on for the first of a pair of mittens. So far so good.

I have already made a modification though. I did a stockinette picot hem on the cuff. The pattern calls for 6 rows of garter stitch. Blech! Not fancy enough for me.

That's it for today. 

Live long and prosper. \\//

WIP Update

 I've finished the first of a pair of socks for daughter-in-law's Christmas gift. My tension at needle changes is definitely improving and I'm really enjoying the knitting. I might actually have this stranded knitting down.

We went for a lovely drive in the mountains on Saturday. My brother-in-law invited us to go with him. He wanted to check out the Tamaracks color. 

Tamaracks are a deciduous conifer. They are technically the Western Aspen but everyone calls them Tamaracks. They look like a fir tree but their needles turn yellow and fall off in the fall. 

Dan took us on a route I'd never been on. We ended up over the border into Montana on a two lane highway. Oh my gosh, it was absolutely beautiful. Whole mountain sides are covered in bright yellow Tamaracks. It took my breath away. The Cotton Woods and Aspens are in their fall glory too. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take photos. I wish I could have. 

On Sunday I worked on getting the flower beds, boxes, and deck ready for winter. I decided to pull up every Canadian Thistle I could find too. It only took an hour, but boy do my knees hurt now! Especially my right knee. So I'm trying to take it easy for a couple days. 

I need to be able to walk by Friday because I'm going to a conference this coming weekend that is being held in Spokane Library over in Washington. It's the Unite Against Hate conference.

We have a terrible problem with right wing Christian Nationalist extremists in our area right now. They have managed to get involved in local politics and have done a lot of damage. Our community college is on the verge of losing it's accreditation, they're trying to close down our public libraries, trying to ban books in our schools, etc. I'm looking forward to learning how to fight this kind of thing.

Until next time-

Live long and prosper.\\//

A Drive To A Lake

 All summer my husband and his brother have been going on hikes once or twice a week. I've learned we have a lot of small lakes around here up high in the mountains because they've been hiking to them and telling me all about them when they return. Last Tuesday my husband suggested going for a drive to visit one of the lakes he's been to. You can drive to it, or hike. 

I can't do much hiking right now because my leg is still healing. The swelling and bruising in my knee is healing, but it's still got a ways to go. Well, anyway, we took a drive up north to visit Roman Nose Lake. I don't know why it's called that. It didn't look like a nose of any type to me. 

The drive was very nice, even if it was mostly on rough gravel logging roads up in the mountains. The weather was perfect. I really enjoyed it. I took a few pictures. Thought I'd share them.

Here are two Mule deer does and a fawn standing in the road chewing on a couple bushes. They were not afraid of us. We had to stop and wait for awhile until they decided they'd stroll off into the woods so we could get by.

This is lower Roman Nose lake. There is also Mid Roman Nose and High Roman Nose Lake. You can't drive to them. You have to hike. I think it's about 4 miles over a nearby ridge, or something like that. The lower lake is quite pretty. 

It's way up at the altitude that Alpine firs grow. Alpine firs are the slim-line Christmas kind of tree. They only grow about an inch a year, if that, because they're up too high to have a reasonable length of growing time. I learned some time ago that Conifer trees don't grow below the temperature of 56F degrees. It's a much colder climate up in the mountains.

There's a trail that goes half way around the left side of the lake. I noticed something while strolling along. The really big Alpine Fir's bark starts to split into squares and rectangles. I don't know why, but I find it interesting. This particular tree is probably about 12 inches thick. The tree is well over 300 years old.

Besides Alpine Fir, there are Tamaracks. The Tamarack is a conifer tree (has needles and cones) that actually turns yellow in the fall and the needles all fall off. It's the only conifer I know that does that. They are incredibly beautiful in the fall. These ones are growing up the side of an old boulder avalanche. The rocks are pretty big and made of granite.

It's where the trail ended. I got Zoey to pose on a rock for me. She was pretty happy. So many new things and smells to experience!

When I was taking the above pic, there was a bush with tiny little cones on it behind me. They were so cute!

The bush was some type of Alder. My thumb is in this photo so you can see the size of the cones.

A picture of the lake from another side. You can see the avalanche straight across.

I wish I had taken a chair and my knitting with us. It was kind of sad to drive all that way only to stay for about 30 minutes. I could have sat in the sun breathing in that clear sweet smelling air and knitting. I would have liked that.

Speaking of knitting, I have started a pair of socks. These will be this years Christmas present for the daughter-in-law. I was going to create some socks with trains on them, but I ran across this pattern and fell madly in love with it. She would definitely like them.

I'm using white and a heather blue yarn . So far, I'm liking it. The main pattern is 12 stitches wide and 10 rows high. A nice easy pattern. It'll get a little bit more difficult after I turn the heal. The bottom of the foot has it's own stitch pattern.

Live long and prosper. \\//

A Bunch of Little Squares

 After finishing the duck socks, I got a strong craving to knit another pair of mittens. I quickly picked 3 colors from the stash, a stitch pattern from one of my books, and made these.

Pattern: None. Just something I've put together, Estonian style.

Size: Womans Medium

Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington
Content: 75% Merino, 25% Nylon, Fingering weight.
Color: White

Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole
Content: 70% Superwash Wool/30% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: Navy

Yarn: Opal Uni Solid 4ply
Content: 75% Superwash Wool/25% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: 1413 Fuschia

Needles: Circular size 2

Started: September 15, 2024
Finished: October 1, 2024

Comments: I love these! I custom fit them to my own hands. They feel wonderful. The stitch pattern came from my newly acquired book The Big Book of Latvian Mittens, though I altered it a bit so it's not exactly the same.

Back

I was reading one of my mittens books and learned the thumbs are knit in a stranded pattern for the warmth. It makes the fabric at least double thick. I have seen patterns where the thumb and fingers are knit in plain stockinette and they are not as warm.

Front

I absolutely love the color combination. The pattern was surprisingly easy to knit too. I had it memorized very quickly and it knit up very fast.

Stitch pattern detail

I had a few different choices for decreasing the thumbs. I chose the easiest one, which was having a center stitch on each side that always was knit with the background color of the row, and decreasing either side of those center stitches. My tension is still rather sloppy when I get to the small circumference part of any knitting. Hopefully it will improve in time.

Thumb

About the cuff. I got the idea from gloves and mittens being sold in the NordicMittens Etsy store. Külli Jacobs, who knits for and owns it, is kind of my knitting hero. She does such beautiful work and I've been inspired by her to pursue excellence in my knitting and got me started making Estonian mittens.

 

Cuff

 I actually bought a pair of her gloves during the summer just so I could look at them close up. They're going to be so warm this winter. Anyway, the cuff is basically a 12 stitch feather and fan pattern. I knit 5 rows MC, 1 row CC, 4 rows MC, 2 rows CC, 3 rows MC, 3 rows CC, 2 rows MC, 4 rows CC, 1 row MC, and 5 rows CC. Then I started repeating it all again just to add the small amount of length I needed to finish the cuff.

This next picture is for the knitters out there. We like to see the inside of stranded knitted items just to check out how even the floats are.

Inside

This is next pic shows the only mistake I made. I started and ended both mittens on the same row of the pattern, there's exactly the same number of rows, but for whatever reason, they didn't end the same. I decreased to 10 stitches left, then I finished with a 3 needle bind off. I have no idea why the pink squares are off or how it happened-yet. I need to sit and study them a bit. Oddly, this does not bother me. I would enter them in the fair..

Top tips

I'm looking forward to wearing them this very-soon-coming winter.

It's a beautiful sunny day today. The sky is so clear and it smells like fall already. It's pretty chilly out though. Tomorrow should be back in the 70's. I'm planning on being out on the deck for awhile.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Ducks say "Quack Quack"

 Finally got some decent pictures of my finished Duck socks.

Pattern: 
White goose socks by Renarde Endormie

Size: Ladies Medium

Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington

Content: 75% Merino, 25% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: 25 Bluestone

Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington

Content: 75% Merino, 25% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: White

Yarn: Unknown name, from the stash. 

Content: Probably 80% Superwash wool, 20% Nylon, Fingering weight
Color: Yellow

Needles: ChiaoGoo circular size 2

Started: July 26, 2024
Finished: September 13, 2024

Comments: I know the pattern is named goose, but they look more like ducks to me. I'd add another row or two in the neck for geese. 

I duplicate stitched the bills rather than knit them in. Much easier, to be honest.

I left out about 8 rows of the pattern. Sigh... I didn't notice until I got to that spot in the second sock. Decided to make it a design feature rather than reknit. So they are a bit shorter than the originals.

Look at those top ruffles. They look like duck feet! So cute, and clever.

I didn't do fancy on the heels. Just the usual standard gusset I've done so often it's permanently in my brain. I will remember it forever, even if I get Alzheimers.

 

The usual standard toe too. I decreased until 10 stitches were left, then finished with a three-needle bind off.

It's nice to have them done and ready for Christmas. First present done!

My knee is getting better and better. The main swelling is finally going down and my legs are getting stronger. I'm sore today because I walked all over Costco yesterday. Probably overdid it just a smidge.

Speaking of Costco, yesterday was the usual run I do every few weeks or so. We're low on toilet paper and paper towels so a trip was needed. Got to the store and the place was absolutely PACKED for a Thursday. I asked one of the employees if it was busier than usual and she said yes. Then I went to the back for the toilet paper and the whole back area was completely empty! No toilet paper! No paper towels! Not even any kleenex! Of any brand whatsoever! My first thought was "I wonder where they moved it to." because stuff gets moved around all the time. Then I overheard a lady talking to an older couple telling them the store is out! There was a big rush yesterday and it all sold. Toilet paper hoarders are at it again! She was telling the couple that there wasn't any because of President Biden and the election coming up. (A huge pile of bird doo doo.)

Good god there's a lot of stupid people in this country. Elections and presidents have NOTHING to do with it! Actually, the run on the paper items is because of the dockworkers strike in a port on the east coast. Here's the thing---our Costco's toilet paper is manufactured less than a two hour drive from here in Lewiston, Idaho. In fact almost all toilet paper, paper towels, and kleenex is made in the USA. The strike has no effect on our toilet paper source! Ahh, futz!

Then I got home and read that the strike has been postponed until at least next January and negotiations are taking place. All those hoarders hoarded for no reason! Meantime, I need to score some toilet paper somewhere.

It's raining today. A good air-cleaning soaking rain. We've been needing it so bad. 

There are apples on my apple tree! It's a Honey Crisp tree. I went out last weekend to pick and they all have been chewed up by Yellow Jackets! Big holes in almost every apple. So no crop for me. Drat! My brother-in-law's Honey Crisp has apples too and his are fine. So I picked a bag and I've baked an apple pie today with some of them. Yum!

I didn't mention it in my blog, but in August we took a quick weekend trip over to Westport, Washington for a memorial event for my husbands sister. This is a picture taken on that trip. I was sitting out on the deck enjoying the sea air and a view of the ocean. We had Zoey with us and it was just a little chilly for her. I still had the blister then, so I didn't do a lot. I was very careful, used my cane, and the trip turned out to be very nice.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Leg Healing Progress

 My knee is heeling nicely. The big blister developed a leak and drained out. Then it turned into a huge scab. Over the past couple weeks pieces of the scab started falling off until it was about the size of a quarter. I was looking at it Sunday night and decided to see what would happen if I tried to peel it off. It popped off and now it's just fresh new skin.

The knee is still very swollen, and a slight infection moved in, but it's a bit better every day. I'm taking an antibiotic every day which is helpful.

I've had a physical therapist coming twice a week. It's helping a lot in getting the strength back in my legs. I've pretty much stopped using the cane, though I've been taking it in the car just in case. I walked to the mailbox and back today! My last therapist appointment is coming next Thursday.

I've had a nurse coming twice a week too. She's very concerned about the infection. She said she probably only has two or three visits left. Then I'm on my own. It's felt good having her coming. She's given me confidence in the healing process.

I finally finished the duck socks. I'm waiting for decent weather to take good photos. Immediately after finishing I found myself wanting to start another pair of mittens, so I did.

The cuff idea came from a pair in the NordicMittens Etsy store. The main stitch pattern is a small modification on one in my new book

Big Book of Latvian Mittens . I picked the yarns out of the stash. I'm loving how it's looking so far.

Our weather has cooled off a lot. It's been in the 60's most of the time in the last 

week or so. I've resisted turning on the furnace so far. I've been wearing warmer clothes and wrapping up in a blanket when needed. Zoey's been wearing sweaters.

Have you ever watched the movie Crazy Rich Asians?

I love it. I recently found out it's based on a book by Kevin Kwan with the same name. In fact, there's a trilogy. I bought them and started reading the first one. It's a love story about an American girl of Chinese descent and a guy who comes from an extremely rich family in Singapore.It's kind of an unusual sort of book for me to read but I've been having a hard time putting it down. I am really enjoying it.

That's the news for now.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Yes!

 Happy Star Trek Day!

Live long and prosper. \\//

Zoey's Sweater

Sharing WIPs today. This is the sweater I started for Zoey.

It's going to be a bright one. As I mentioned before, I'm recycling yarn from a previous sweater I made for Zoey. It was so loose on her. I frogged it. The green I'm using for the neck band has been in my stash for years. It's Cascade Pacific yarn. I'm throwing in some leftover purple from the last sweater I made me too, and the teal used for the bands on the frogged sweater. 

I've had a major setback on the socks. I ran out of the blue yarn. I thought I had a second skein, but I'm wrong. I was going to order another from Webs, which is where the first skein came from, but they are out. In fact, I could only find one place on the Internet that has it, but it's in England and they want $25 for shipping. Not happening.

I've decided to frog back to the beginning of the heel and use the white for heels and toes. That will give me enough blue yarn to finish the pair.

I find it looks better.  I'm also so glad I started my Christmas knitting early!

The wild fires are getting worse. There's been some lightning and it's starting them. We've had a couple within just a few miles of us. Fortunately the fire department has been timely in getting them beat down right away. In the meantime, the smoke has descended on us. It's thick enough to smell it, but not blocking out the mountains yet.

When we first moved here we didn't get nearly as many fires as we do now. It's making me very nervous.

Still using the phone to blog. I can't handle the weight of the laptop on me yet. My leg is healing pretty good. Some of the swelling has gone down and it doesn't look so purple. Pain level has gone down quite a bit too.

Live long and prosper. \\//