Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Totally Absorbed in Socks



One pair of the 'girly' socks are already to the heel turning! I've always said that wild socks knit up soooo much faster than plain ones & this pair is no exception to the rule. I had to knit this OPAL Neon - just to see what it would look like as a sock. And it makes your eyes water, that's for sure!! I think the 11 year old recipient will be thrilled. The wild pinks & blues will look dazzling against her dark skin!! If I can find the time, I intend to knit a hat for her to match - I saw a couple on Knitty that keep your head warm but leave the back open for braids, tails or long hair. I'm actually thinking of the one with the two holes knit in for pigtails - our little gal loves to wear big fluffy pigtails!!

Was out to Starbucks last nite coffeeing with friends while watching the first snow of the season. Half the town crawled down the main road at 30 while the other half sped by laughing. It's amazing how a couple of snowflakes paralyze the town. Mind you, I AM totally happy that I don't have to be out in the early morning when the whole town will be a skating rink. The problem with the snow that falls here is that it's so wet that you get an inch of snow insulation on top of 3 inches of ice - nasty after a freezing night. I think I'm gonna regret losing my little front wheel drive car.


Sunday, November 25, 2007

I just can't believe it!

Whilst rooting around in my office closet for a cable for the computer, I spied another couple of garbage bags hidden away in there. In my house, garbage bags mean trouble. Usually they mean forgotten work. Somebody out there gave me a whole bag of paper that must be UNFOLDED, READ, ORGANIZED & ENTERED onto the computer. Oh Gawd, who's been forgotten now!!?? Opened the top bag & discovered another fleece. A white fleece. A nice white fleece. Mmmm, when did I get this one?? And there's a grey fleece in the other bag - at least I think it's grey - but it's full of VM & needs washing - who knows what color it'll turn out to be. I knew about the mohair in the third bag but am totally blank about the other two. Too much wool & not enough time. Not sure I even want the grey one with VM . . . .

Decided to call my mother this morning & see what the weather's like up there in Vernon, these days. Since my step-father died, she's been making changes in her life. She finally decided to splurge on a new fridge & stove - she says the guy who hauled the old ones away said the stove was so far gone it was likely to set the house on fire!! Just what you want to hear. Mother & Clare liked to shop the auctions & many times they picked up bags of yarn for a buck. Mom said she found two garbage bags full of acrylic yarn out in the garage after Clare died. Apparently Clare liked shopping the auction by himself sometimes, since she'd never bought THAT much yarn!!! The local Hospital Auxiliary got a nice donation this week!! LOL

Well, I'm off to do dog walking duty in the local doggie park. It was a sea of mud on Friday & I figure it isn't much better today . . . . . sigh But, I'll be able to knit in the sunshine at Starbucks afterwards for a hour or so . . .

Saturday, November 24, 2007

A Verrry Bad Idea

This little cold spell got me thinking about a winter jacket - haven't replaced the one that got taken by the nasty boys who broke into my car a couple of winters ago. I thought I'd knit an indian sweater quickly since I have all these balls of yarn hanging around. So I dug around & found 6 black, 2 grey, 1 white, 1 pink & 1 marled grey. I'm not including all the browns that I refused to consider. Figured that should be enough to make me a knit-in-one-piece-from-the-bottom-up sweater! Then I started to knit. Bloody hell!! I never considered how heavy this thing would be. And I'd forgotten how much it made me wheeze, sneeze, cough & drip!! The wool is SO DRY that it pours tiny fibres into the air like a cloud while you're trying to knit. I could spray it with a little oil & seal it into a garbage bag for a while, but I decided it wasn't worth my time. Time to find it a new home! I decided to search out that bag of polar fleece I've got tucked away & SEW a light winter jacket!!

I've actually cast-on for the Arvik top-down raglan sweater again. After the nasty Buffalo wool, Arvik is a joy to work with. The wool is soft & slightly greasy in a nice sort of way. No over processing here. I suspect some wool allergies may just be over-processed wool or nasty dyes. I don't seem to have a problem with most of it, most of the time. This time, I'll be using the standard Raglan, top-down shaping with the extra "Legal Loopholes" to increase the fronts & back while leaving a narrower sleeve. Hopefully, I'll be wearing it in a week or so.

Two more pairs of socks are finished!
The Never-Ending socks are Ended
!! I couldn't leave well enough alone, mind you & I put yellow toes on them for fun. My ex will be tickled pink to get them - he hasn't had a pair
of socks in quite a while. When you wear size 13WWWW, it ain't easy to find people willing to knit socks for you.

The brown & grey 'manly' socks are also finished
. The BT's d
ad will be the happy recipient - he hasn't got any in brown or grey yet & I think he'll like these ones. I didn't put colored toes on these because I had plenty of yarn left over & wanted to use as much of it as possible. I'll bet I still have enough left over to make a couple pairs of baby socks.

And, as if I didn't have enough on the needles - I've cast on the wild hot pink & blue Opal yarn pictured here on the left that I bought in the bargain basket a couple of weeks ago at Knitopia. They'll be for one of the 'girly' feet I added to my Christmas list. I've only just finished the ribbing on the first sock but I can already tell that they're gonna be soooooooo wild!

Monday, November 19, 2007

A Contest!!!

Okay, Okay - I'm jumping in with both feet here - to celebrate the 300th post at this site, there is a contest. Go to - http://janevdoviak.blogspot.com/ - to enter!!

Spending my off hours working on socks like crazy! The 'manly' socks are to the heel shaping & quite handsome. I thought I'd matched up the colors & stripes but found I ended up in the middle of a repeat on the second sock. Oh well, I guess if you're anal about matching socks, you won't be wearing mine!


Arvik is not on the needles yet but after freezing my tushie today, she will be soon. I've
actually been contemplating knitting up a quickie Indian Sweater with some of the Buffalo wool I still have laying about. None of the balls really match but I have mostly greys or browns in plain & mottled balls. I knit this one last winter for someone in grey & could do the same for myself fairly quickly, I think. It's hard on the hands & wrists but it goes quickly when knit in once piece on circular needles. Arvik is warm & nice but not THAT warm. I went to work in an unheated building this afternoon & had to leave after 3 hours because I got too cold to work. Not good for the arthritic joints! And this is only November . . . .


Sunday, November 18, 2007

Another Day, Another Dollar

Hallowe'en
wasn't even over before the Christmas decorations & advertising started! And have you noticed, it isn't referred
to as 'Christmas' anymore????!!! Was listening to NW980, I believe it was Bill Goode's show about 'Christmas' & Political Correctness . . . . when an Asian caller told us that he traveled extensively & found most of the world celebrated 'Christmas'! People decorate their houses, trees & wear Santa hats to celebrate even though they're of other faiths. He said that "only in 'Christian' North America" was there all this fuss about not calling it 'Christmas'. He couldn't believe it. I agree with him. I'm sick of Political Correctness & I don't give a damn. However you celebrate whatever you call it - it's a little more than a month away!! And I still have socks to knit.

The wild socks are DONE!
See, wild yar
n knits faster. It's a Scientific FACT. The never-ending socks are still on the needles while a second pair of socks are done & a third are almost to the heel shaping!!! My next pair are 'manly' socks in greys & brown with a teeny stripe of white or light grey or light brown. I know they'll appeal to the BT's dad & probably the BoyToy too but I think his dad will get these. Got two more wild pairs to knit - two extra girly feet this year & then it's back to washcloths because I need a pile of them!!

Sometime this week I have to get back to Arvik too. I still don't have a warm sweater to wear!! But, it doesn't take long to knit the handspun on size 6 needles. I may add a few rows of garter just to give it some interest in the yoke area but otherwise I'm just knitting it as a top- down raglan but this time I'll remember the darned neck shaping in front!!


And, on another note, Mable, the travelling sock bag, has just returned from her sojourn to the OLD part of Canada!! Her owner sent me two pictures of her travels. Mable goes to Ottawa on the right & Mable in Montreal on the left. She does get around, doesn't she???

Monday, November 12, 2007

Another week in the life . . .


I'm not sure where the time's gone this past week, I just know that most of it isn't billable! The grey days just make me want to stay in my house jammies, put the soup pot on to simmer, plug in a good book & knit.
So, I've been making dishcloths. Plain, garter stitch dishcloths. With a few promised here & a couple there, oh, must include one with each little gift to the boys - I still have a few orphans who have nowhere to go for holidays . . . . . & of course, one to the Ex. I need a fair whack of them. I've found a stash of crafter cotton from many years ago in a bottom drawer - seems I'd planned to knit a cotton jacket but bought the wrong stuff. It's a lot softer, thicker & more absorbent than the newer crafter cotton - is there polyester in the new stuff??? And, have you noticed, the ball is smaller????

I bought several balls of Opal in bright colors in the sale basket at Knitopia a couple of weeks ago. Karen asked me to knit a sock or two in the brights so she can see if they make a pattern. Apparently the salesperson claimed they just make a mottled all-over color. Well, I can say the color combos are truly weird but definitely bright & they do stripe - at least in the one I started. Looking at the ball, you'd never guess at the wildness within. But, you know, the longer I work on it, well, it just seems to become normal somehow. I have the next two balls picked out for wild socks - they look the same as the last but are in different colors. Then, I have to start on the DULL colorways I bought at the same time. The dull ones are supposed to be "MANLY" socks so I sure hope they aren't as weird as the brights!!

I'm trying to finish the Lana Grossa socks - these are in a 13WWW foot size for my Ex. They've got to be the most boring socks ever - well, except for those black dress socks I knit for the BoyToy last year to wear with his suit. I think these will in future be known as the 'Never Ending Socks'!! They just seem to go on & on & on. I think the next time I decide to knit a pair for the Ex, I'll use the Confetti or Sock it to Me yarns. They both have good yardage, interesting 'manly' colors & are a lot more interesting!! So, I'll just have to grit my teeth & concentrate to get these things finished in the next week or so - I need the needles for another project!!

Oh my God, the clouds are gone, the wind has died down - we had a huge banging, wailing, windy night full of driving rain - AND the sky is just now BLUE!! Wow. Time to get dressed, go see if any of my houseplants survived the night outside & head for a sunny spot to have a tea. And Knit, of course . . . . .

Sunday, November 04, 2007




Didja Remember???

My good pal Gail called me yesterday to remind me to turn my clock back last night. Good thing she did, I hadn't heard anything about it. I admit I haven't read a newspaper in days - they only have bad news anyway - & I haven't really had the tv on anything other than PBS or HGTV & I've had my head into Audio Books everywhere else.
Have you ever noticed how MANY clocks have to be adjusted this time of year??
I have the clock radio in the bedroom - you have to turn it the right way or the alarm rings at night instead of the morning!!! I have one on the computer - usually it sets itself, unless the world decides to do it early for a change . . . . . , there's one on the wall above the computer so I can see it when I'm busy, there's one on the kitchen wall, there's one in the microwave, one
in the coffee-pot, oh, don't forget the VCR/DVD!!! And the cell phone, the car, the fax machine & on & on & on. And there's always one I forget until I need it.

Speaking of Audio Books - has anyone heard or read for that matter, the latest James Patterson book, Mary Mary??? If you like murder, this is the one for you. It's the latest in the Women's Murder Club series which I've enjoyed. I discovered Mary Reichs too - Monday Mourning, Bones to Ashes - her main character is a Forensic Pathologist who specializes in bones. She gets involved whenever bones are discovered; in one book she's identifying people in mass graves in South America who are thought to be part of the 'Disappeared' from the 1970s, in another, she's identifying bones found in a construction project in an old part of a city. She also works on bones from suspected historical burial sites & as well as suspected murders - all with the Quebec police breathing down her neck. A lot of Canadian history & geography feature in the books!! Makes data entry go a lot faster!!!

Arvik has been FROGGED.
I finished the sweater Friday & tried it on. It was long enough & sooooooo soft & warm but that damned error in the neckline made me crazy. I wore it around the house Saturday morning & then pulled it all out. ARVIK is neatly wound into three flat bottomed balls awaiting it's new incarnation. It's hard to believe the whole sweater wound into these three balls!! Oh, I intend to reknit the sweater, using the same pattern neck & raglan increases - Legal Loopholes - with the addition of about 40 extra 'frontal' stitches for the curve of the neck & boobage. The last time, I used a pattern that made a Henley type pullover which I made into a cardigan & forgot to add extra stitches for the fronts - I discovered my mistake after I'd finished the sleeves!!! I didn't want to frog it at that point & dithered. I decided to finish it. Sigh . . . I won't knit the collar first, I'll pick up the neck stitches later. I'd knit 3/4 sleeves since I'm always pushing them up when I work but I think narrower long sleeves would look better - the shorter sleeve ended at the widest part of ME & accentuated the equatorial proportions of my Apple shape. In my frustration last night all I could knit was another square for the afghan project!

And now I have to frog part of the 'Ginny' as well . . . the hip shaping is wonky. Ah well, maybe I'll actually have a sweater to wear sometime in the next few months. Either that or I get out the sewing machne & sew one out of Polar Fleece!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Back from the Dead

Got over my virus
- well, mostly! Spent Sunday drinking tea with Feeney's & sleeping. I'll bet I slept 18 out of 24 hours but woke up Monday with a clear head. Guess it was a flu. Nothing like a day under a quilt to make you feel better again.


I was putting away the laundry this morning
& thinking I had a LOT of handknit socks hanging up! I checked it out - I have 17 PAIRS of handknit socks on the go!! Seventeen Pairs! I have at least 3 pairs that are over FIVE YEARS OLD! Mind you, some are short socks for summer clogs. And, I've even given some of them away just
because I didn't wear them. It's funny, sometimes you just knit up a color that you loved in the ball & it just doesn't appeal once you put it in the basket. I've got a couple of those, they never seem to get worn. Time to pass them on.

I finished the first hip triangle on my Ginny's Sweater. Since the deep "V" shaping creates a pointed front & back, you have to knit a triangle from the side hip to the hem to match the front & back dip. Now Medrith assures me this will work out if I follow her directions but I have my doubts. The bottom does NOT look straight. And, if I remember my geometry, I'm knitting from the top of the triangle to the base to fill in the hole. The pattern tells me I'm decreasing 6 stitches every two rows . . . . . huh??? I figure I should be INCREASING every two rows. I knit the first hip triangle & I'm scratching my head. Notice how it pulls IN toward the centre??? Okaaaaaaaaaaaay . . . Time to take it to the Girls for an opinion. Sometimes you just need a Committee.

With the weather turning cool & damp
, I decided to just finish the Arvik sweater the way it is & use it. When I started the neck shaping, I forgot to add the extra stitches
for the front curved part of the cardigan neck - hey, I was working from an open placket V-neck pullover pattern!!! I need something warm for work NOW since most businesses are cold this time of year when they're closed up for the weekends. And I'm thinking I may knit up some fingerless gloves too since my hands are suffering in the damp. Some Frankengloves may be the answer!!! LOL

I've turned the heels on both
of my mottled blu
e/green/brown/orange Lana Grossa socks for the BT's dad!!! I have a new person to knit some socks for this year & I think her socks will be next. She's a single mom, working full time for minimum wage with a girl around 11. She's finding life particularly hard these days since her Dad died a year ago in October. She's so much like her dad - same walk, same body type, same face - I tell her to look in the mirror when she misses her Dad. She likes hot pinks!! Have I got some yarn for HER socks!! hahahahahahaha