"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

12/24/16

Purple Mittens for Katy

I finished the purple mittens I was making for my niece Katy.



Pattern: Classic Mittens No. 615 by Bernhard Ulmann Co.
Size: Childrens 6-8

Yarn: Knit Picks Mighty Stitch
Content: 80% Wool/20% Acrylic
Color: Eggplant

Needles: Circular size 5

Started: December 9, 2016
Finished: December 22,2016



Comments: I really like this pattern. It's easy and knits up fairly quickly.



I don't know if I'll be seeing Katy this weekend or not. Her family was planning to come over to ski. They don't celebrate Christmas so it isn't a Christmas present. It's just a present from Auntie me to Katy who loves purple mittens.

Now for some bad news. About 15 minutes ago I accidentally knocked my camera off the dining room table and it broke! 


It will only take pink blurry pics. I hope I can get it repaired. I love my camera so much!

We have got lots of snow at the Parkarosa. It's well over a foot deep now in the yard. We got 4 new inches just last night.

I'm as ready as I can be for Christmas. The presents are wrapped and under the tree. We're going to my brother-in-laws house for dinner tonight. Should be fun.

Live long and prosper. \\//

12/16/16

Mukluk and Fence

Well, it's amazing how nicely something goes when you're doing it right. I already got the first mukluk knitted, and I've started the second one.



There are a lot of ends to weave in. Not looking forward to it. I have a pair of leather soles somewhere around here to sew on, but I can't remember where I put them (2 years is more than my memory can handle) so I've ordered some more.

Zoey wanted her picture taken, so I obliged.



We have about 8 inches of snow on the ground now.



It's also very  cold. The high on Wednesdat was 15F. Yesterday it was 23F. Today it's 16F. When I got up this morning it was 8F. Brrrr. So I feel bad for the fence guys.

Yes! They showed up on Wednesday and started building the fence. They dug post holes all day, and they managed to find the cable to our satellite dishes too. Chopped it right in two. Fortunately, Dish sent someone out later that day to fix it so I wouldn't miss the finale of Survivor.

The fence guys returned Thursday and put in the fence posts. The fence will be 6 feet high. I got a real feel for it standing here. The posts are taller than me.



I was gone all day, so it did my heart good to return to all these posts sticking straight up. Zoey thinks they're great too. She got very excited and ran up and down the fence line several times until she got distracted.



She found a dirty chunk of ice to play with while I was taking pics.



She doesn't seem to be bothered by the cold. She isn't as excited about snow as Cable was, but she likes to play in it-mostly running in it and eating it.



Here's the view down the hill from the back door. It's pretty here in the morning when the sun is shining.



There will be a 6 foot wide gate so we can get to the dishes. Doug likes to mow around them in the summer, and we need to be able to go down and wipe the snow off them in the winter.

Wednesday I decided to clean the oven. It's self cleaning, so the job consists of turning on the self cleaning cycle, then waiting for the oven to cool off, and wiping the ashes out of it. I decided I needed to clean the door glass too. There are two panes. One inside the oven door, and one on the outside of the door. I just 'had' to clean the spills that had managed to get inside between the glass panes. I took the screws out to allow myself access to that space and I managed to break the plastic pieces that hold the outer glass in place. Sigh. Everything just plopped on the floor. I'm lucky the glass didn't break! So now I've got a broken oven door sitting on the floor in the kitchen, and I can't use the oven until the replacement parts get here next Tuesday. I need my oven! I need to bake some cookies today, and then there's dinner cooking too. Urg. I guess I'll find something else to do today.

Like, knit.

Live long and prosper. \\//

12/9/16

The Bicycle Hat

This project went really fast. I started it on the 5th and finished it last night. A Christmas present for someone. I call it the bicycle hat.



The Bicycle Hat

Pattern: Bicycle Patterned Knit Hat by Heidi Arjes
Size: Adult

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Content: 100% Superwash Wool
Color: 227 Bachelor Button

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Content: 100% Superwash Wool
Color: 211 Cocoa

Needles:  Size 9 circular

Started: December 4, 2016
Finished: December 8/ 2016

Comments: I really modified the pattern because it's kind of plain and not well designed. First of all, I did a 2 color corrugated rib for the cuff just to fancify it. Then I did a lovely Latvian braid. (They're fun to knit.) After finishing the bike chart I continued in stockinette stitch until the hat was 5.5 inches from the cast on edge (rather than just 3 rounds as the pattern instructed). The decreases on the crown are not correct in the pattern. They decrease down much too fast. I added one round of knit between each decrease row, and did a second round of K2tog on the last round so I had 5 stitches left. 



I am very pleased with how it turned out.



Clearly I am on a stranded color work knitting roll. I'm really enjoying it now that I can do it properly. After finishing the hat I've decided to try those Mukluks again that I started knitting in 2014 but could never get to turn out nice. I've already cast on and I'm well into it now.



It has been snowing all day long. It hasn't amounted to much though. Maybe an inch. The snow is very light and fluffy and it is windy. I suspect most of it has been blown over into Montana before it could touch the ground. It's also bitterly cold. We haven't been above freezing all week long and it's been dipping into the low to mid teens at night. It's supposed to snow pretty much all weekend.

I've been promised that our fence will be built this next week. I'll believe it when I see it. They'll have to work in snow and frozen ground. I'm assured they will have no problem with that.

I've been Christmas shopping this week, mostly online. It's just so much easier than driving all over trying to find what I want. I just sit here in 'the hug' and everything I want gets shipped to our house.

I really should get the tree out of storage and start putting it up. Perhaps that is what I'll do this weekend.

Zoey is playing with her toys. She is very good at playing by herself. Right now she's got her pink pig in her mouth and is running around the couch in circles with it, squeeking it as she goes. Silly girl.

Live long and prosper. \\//

12/5/16

Fibonacci Socks

I can't believe I have finished the socks. Hurray! This has been one of the most challenging things I've knit in a long long time. I learned so much doing them. I feel like I could take on any fairisle/stranded color work project now.


Fibonacci Socks

Pattern: Fibonacci Socks from Op-Art Socks by Stephanie Van Der Linden
Size: Mens size 8 shoe

Yarn: Down Home Art Yarns Sock by Knitivity (discontinued)
Content: 75% Superwash Wool/25% Nylon
Color: Blog Reader Special Dark Greens

Yarn: Fearless Fibers Classic Merino Sock Yarn
Content: 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Color: Lime Kiwi

Needles:  Circulars size 2

Started: October 8, 2016
Finished: December 4, 2016

Comments:  I can't believe how long it took me to make these. I had to unravel or just plain rip out so much before I got it right. I did not knit these exactly as the original pattern is written. I didn't think they would fit the person I've made these for (Christmas present), so I modified. I cast on 72 sts and did 1.5 inches of twisted 1x1 rib, then sort of used the stitch patterns over my usual pattern for making socks. I've done a Dutch heel on them too just because it's my favorite.



I love the stitch pattern on the sole. I'd like to make a pair of socks using just that pattern.



I do like how the heel turned out. My standard Dutch heel.



There are mistakes in both socks that I chose not to fix. I had a lot of trouble with the gussets and that's where the mistakes are.



I sure hope the recipient of this gift likes them. All that work!

Snow has come to the Parkarosa. We actually got a couple inches, and then it all melted. Yesterday we had a very weird weather day that ended with just a little bit of fresh snow. Here's how the yard looks now.



The temperatures have dropped low. I woke up this morning to 14F degrees. It did not get above freezing today. Zoey doesn't seem to mind it, which is weird considering how little fur she has. She isn't particularly thrilled with snow, but it doesn't bother her either. She likes to eat it and that's about it. Maybe if we get some deeper snow her opinion will change. Right now it's crunchy and not much there.

Still waiting for the fence company to come build our fence. I'm getting frustrated now. They keep saying "Next week." Well, we've 'next weeked' a whole month away now. In the meantime, Zoey has decided she doesn't need to come when I call her if she's off leash outside (our trainer said she's entered that stubborn age). So no more off leash for her. She wants to take off into the woods. She did it twice last week and I had quite a time getting her back. We need that fence!

One more session of dog obedience class. We went today, but not much happened because Zoey and I were the only ones who showed up. I felt like we should still be getting taught, but the trainer disagreed. She did a little bit with me to teach Zoey to not jump up on people, so I guess I did learn something new, but after about 10 minutes, that was it. I did purchase a collar and tag for Zoey after class. With her taking off, I think she needs to have a tag on her with our phone numbers on it, just in case.



I made the last of the reservations for our Star Trek Cruise. I got us plane tickets and hotel rooms. Can't walk to Miami from here. We decided to arrive 2 days early and spend a bit of time in Miami, also flying home the day after we get  back to Miami. With weather in the winter, I didn't want to take a chance on missing the boat because of bad weather.

My next knitting project will be a pair of stranded color work mittens for another Christmas present. They're done with worsted weight yarn, so they should knit up fairly quickly.

Well, that's the news for now.

Live long and prosper. \\//