A hat

Well I have created a hat. What fun. I loved the ball band dishcloth, and the swifter cover, but when I knit them people didn't want to use them, because they were too pretty. So perhaps a hat will get worn. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ball-band-beanie

Wishing I was there

Oregon Cellar" Yummy 2-ply Sock & Baby Yarn
Oregon Cellar from missbabs' stash I ordered this.

Things I wish.

• That the next sock summit will be closer to home.
• That there will be another sock summit
• That all those who participated in it are happy with the results.
• That the Yarn Harlot and Tina are well compensated for their efforts in this endeavor.
• That someone is documenting this beyond the Guiness Book of World Records.

Well there are many things that I wish. Like that I win the lottery soon.

I have been living through the Sock Summit on a vacarious level as well as many other Ravelers. It must be so exciting to be there in the presence of the many wonderous knitters. I would love to hear the comments from all the knitters who taught classes and had booths there. I think that the high from pulling this thing off must be staggering. So please keep taking pictures and posting them for those of us who can't be there.

Dye for Glory and Sock Summit

I peeked at the sock summit group, to see what was happening. It looks like one of those once in a lifetime events. It seems it is the Woodstock of Sock Yarn and Sock Knitting, only indoors and cleaner. I am torn between thinking I wish I could be there and the truth of knowing it would be just so overwhelming to me. So many fabulous sock knitters and so much yarn. I did vote for yarn in the Dye for Glory, and I did even order a skein of yarn. (might have to hold it in a special place for a while). I hope that all those attending truly enjoy themselves and hope they provide lots of pics for those of us to view and enjoy. Sock on...................

Countdown to Fifty

Well I am almost there, Monday is d-day or F-day since it is nifty fifty. How the hell did I last this long? Today I get my hair cut, and the decision is to continue to dye it or to let the grey shine through unencumbered or perhaps unenhanced. I do so want to end this dye thing, its boring and annoying. Right now I am way too blond for someone who was naturally a medium brunette. I hope that today brings me the courage to let the grey show and be done with this stuff.

Muffins

I had a moment of inspiration. I made muffins yesterday. I made the kind that uses a box cake mix and 15 oz of pumpkin and nothing else. Well I had a 29 oz can of pumpkin and two cake mixes 1 spice and 1 chocolate. So I divided up the can I thought evenly, however the chocolate was very dense so I added some water. Both muffins are very moist but now in retropect, I think if I had peanut butter chips that the chocolate muffins would have been super delicious. I did contemplate putting tiny chocolate eggs with peanut butter in the center of the muffins, since I make baby bundt muffins, but thought it was a bit too much chocolate. The muffins were excellent. For the record, you cannot taste pumpkin in the chocolate muffins, so its a great additive that keeps them moist and leaves out the oil.

Okay just after I posted this, I found this. OH MY STARS.. I must make these...... I think its destiny..

Pumpkin Brownies
by Celia ChengOctober 26th, 2007
FAT WITCH BAKERY75 9th Ave@ 16th St212-807-1335$$
I’m revisiting an old craving but this time with a recipe since it’s pumpkin season, which means it’s pumpkin brownie season. OMG! So tasty!
Pumpkin Witches from Chelsea’s Fat Witch Bakery.
Makes 36 squares

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup unbleached flour
1⁄4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1⁄2 tbs cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup butter (room temperature)
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbs vanilla
1⁄2 cup water
1 cup no-spice canned pumpkin
1⁄2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º.2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.3. In a separate bowl, mix butter, sugar, and vanilla.4. Beat in eggs.5. Stir in pumpkin.6. Fold in dry ingredients.7. Add chocolate chips.8. Pour into 10×15 jelly roll pan and bake 25-35 minutes.9. Let cool 45 minutes and cut into two-inch pieces.


oh and HAPPY BOBMAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Going over the edge

Okay so I crocheted for years, but I never made a toilet paper cover or a toilet seat cover for that matter. I have seen some truly gruesome crocheted stuff. I swore I would not be a party to it. I have crocheted a few mice lately as cat toys. So here is my problem. I can't have real flowers in the house, they will just be dragged about the house by the furry ones. So I saw the flowers on the Joann Website and thought hmmmmmmmm perhaps.... Then I had a vision of me becoming Granny from Sylvester and Tweety. (Okay so I have to grow my hair out to do the bun thing, and I have to get a chest, to fill out the granny dress, but I do have glasses. I am serious I got this crazed vision of me as her the semi-sweet granny from Tweety... Over the edge I go

Staging your sock photos

The things that children teach you. Barb and Rayne were going to photograph Barb's bunnies, Rayne who just turned 7 years old set up the photo. She posed the bunnies in the window and put Easter Eggs around them, she STAGED the photo. Well not to be outdone by the likes of a 7 year old I have restaged a few photos myself. Darn those people who I have given away socks to, I won't be able to restage all my socks. Here are my "Socks so nice I bought the yarn twice." You would think I would recall what yarn it was huh? Nope not a clue. Fortuately I will see it again on Ravelry and then post the correct name. But you bought it twice you say. I did and Barb took it and knit a pair for Gena, her sock groupie, so I don't know the name of it. However I loved the yarn. Now I had knit these almost a year and a half ago and worn them and look they look just fine. I am not kind to my socks, I wash them in the washer and use the dryer and bam don't they still look Fabulous..... Yeah I am a nerd of the first order, but I amuse myself if noone else. I was kind too, since I have possession of FOOL4YARN'S "St. Patrick's Day Socks" I also staged and photographed them... and being the nice person that I am I snuck into her Ravelry account and posted the new photo for her.

Barb's sister Rose has three pair of my socks and one pair of Barb's socks, I told her I wanted all her socks to rephotograph them, she looked at me like "Yeah Right". But I am sorry I did not stage them properly from the get go. It could happen, it might not. I would like to have them photographed on the sock forms to show just how pretty they really are, however we shall see.

Oh and Rayne, how do you like my photo now? Seven year old sheesh......

The blanket is done. Amen

Well its done and amen to that. It took approximately 6 minutes to do each row. (started out at seven and got it down to six. There a many rows. I have never before knit a baby blanket. I knit an afghan that took an eternity but not a baby blanket. I loved the yarn, it was so soft on the size 7 needles (one size up from the recommended needle size.) Its a little less wide that I would like it to be, but I needed to finish it, and have one more thing from the UFO file closed and done and move on. For the edges I picked up the bumps of garter stitch and knit a few rows of white to tie into the center, all except on the cast on row. Then I did a sewn bind-off. What a time consuming thing that is. Not bad for socks, but it was positively soul sucking for a bind off on the blanket. I do however like the stretchy quality it has , because I started doing a regular bindof and it was too tight and pulled the blanket on the ends. So I had to go back and redo it. Now the entire blanket has some stretch to it and lies nicely without bunching. Pretty pleased with the finished product.

Catching up

Happy Valentines Day.... a bit late but then who's checking... I got a present. I have a thing for pins (as in pin to your clothing). The Barbara aka FOOL4YARN, all caps got me a lizard brooch (gee that just looks so funny typed) anyway its a lizard with little gems scattered all over it. I happen to like lizards, at least in theory. I am not so sure I would like them loose in my house but they are adorable as a pin.

I also got sockies. Lovely green sockies. See above photo of the lovely socks, handmade by the Barbara. So I got presents not a present. These happen to be such cool presents they require blogging about them.

So Barb was having her mother-in-law over to give her socks also quite lovely socks, see her Ravelry site to view them. She was going to have her over for dinner and pass on the socks to her. Gloria, Barb's mother-in-law is supercool. She learned to sew as a child because her father was a tailor, in East Liberty, (a part of Pittsburgh). Gloria is a fan of our socks. Barb made her a pair and she was wearing them everyday, washing them out at night and wearing them again the next day. (love those folks who love our socks) So Gloria asked Barb if she would knit her another pair to spell the one pair. So I just invited myself over since I knew Gloria was gonna be there, I don't see her often enough, so I crashed the get together. Hey I offered to bring food... I made a brisket and some baby bundt red velvet cakes, okay box mix but I did turn on the oven, so that means I baked.

Well Barb is collecting fabric to make a rag rug, and of course I told her there was a group on Ravelry about this. So I enter the house and have a near fit, she is cutting up fabric and just cutting it into these large strips. Well do I say hello Gloria , NO, I damn near shriek at her ---- what are you doing?? Stop doing it that way, don't you read the stuff I tell you to... It was a moment or two of total chaos. The dog pulled the bag off the table and the brisket and the thankfully un-iced cakes toppled to the floor. (both were safely incased in containers and the brisket was doubled bagged around the container) Mayhem, ummm just a bit............

Anyway it all worked out in the end.... a nice afternoon was had by all. Cousin Rose, Barbs real sister, was in the living room watching The Day stood Still on the large screen TV. Barb and Gloria and I were in the kitchen doing the prep work with the fabric for the rag rug for her granddaughter's room. Gloria and I were winding balls of fabric while Barb tore into it like a wild woman. I had to dodge her fists as she tore strips (somewhat scary) ...

Oh I brought presents too.... I gave Barb a pair of heart earrings... and she coveted the silly bracelet I had on made of red buttons. Done, I gave it to her. I don't often wear a bracelet and I know Barb won't own it long. It will belong to one of the grandchildren before you say "Bob's your uncle".

Dinner was great. Gloria made that pistascio bundt cake with a chocolate center.... Yum Yum. Its something like this.

1 yellow cake mix

1 box pistascio pudding (dry mix)

add to this 4 eggs , 1 half cup of water 1 half cup of orange juice

blend,

pour all but about a forth of it into a bundt pan then add some amound of hersheys chocolate syrup to the balance of the mix and pour it around the pan.

Bake, and dust with confectioners sugar. Oh my its so good... They also liked my little baby bundts.. I iced them with chocolate icing filling the center with chocolate. (didn't look as pretty, since I didn't use a star tip. But they tasted pretty yummy.

So there was my Sunday with Barb and Gloria. (oh Big Ken hid in the family room, because he finds us to be a bit much when we get together. Little ken was gifted my distressed Steeler socks, which look far better on him than on me.

38 Pairs

Milestones. Wow. I have knit almost 38 pairs of socks. I say this because of the thirty eight pairs Barb did two of the socks. One of the socks for charity and one of the socks for Uncle Ralph. Still all told that is nothing to sneeze about. Oh wait I did complete 38 pairs my first pair is not accounted for so it is truly 38. Now there are a few singles that will remain mateless that cannot be in that talley. They may remain for single solitary socks, we aren't sure. Nevermind.

I have in my possession, of the 38 socks, 5 pair. Rose my cousin has three pair, Allan has four pair, but only two of those were actually made for him. He has very small feet so he gets some of my socks that have shrunk a bit or felted. It works for him.

Well almost all socks begin as socks for me, and then somewhere they take a detour. I begin the sock and decide on yarn and pattern and such and begin to knit, then socks seem to find feet. The sock is a bit too small for me or the sock has a mission, something happens in life that requires that, the person in question be gifted with a pair of socks. Mary Jo got socks because she went through a rough summer. I was happy to be able to give her socks. Socks are like prayers in sense, once I know the "feet" in question I am able to knit and think of those socks on that person. So each stitch becomes a prayer in a way. I think of them wearing the socks and the fact that they are warmed by my work. My friends at work who are Jewish have a saying about new things, USE IT IN GOOD HEALTH. So my socks come with the mantra of WEAR THEM IN GOOD HEALTH.

Some socks know from day one where they are going. This is good too. I will admit that I kind of like it the other when the socks detour to a person. Like the socks that so far are my favorite of favorites. I liked them so much that I donated them to our work charity. However, they ended up being purchased (far too cheaply) by my Aunt Carm. I say far to cheaply because the price she paid didn't even cover the cost of the yarn. However because it was her it was different. I am still doing a bit of guilt that she paid anything for them , but since the proceeds went to charity I cannot refund the cost. It would be somehow wrong. The upside of this is, she loves the socks. She wears them a lot and it makes me want to make her a second pair just for so she can rotate the socks.

My cousin Barb ended up with a pair that I had knitted for me. Rose said I wouldn't end up keeping them and she was of course correct. We shall see if Barb keeps this pair. She has given back two so far. One she felted , one I just think wasn't her. They have found new homes.

Learning new things

I love Ravelry with a passion that is amazing. I have learned so many things from this particular website that I can't imagine life before Ravelry. All things have a darkside. I spend far too much time on Ravelry, however, this being said, I would have wasted that time somewhere, perhaps cleaning my house, ahem.... horrors.

So why do I love Ravelry. Let me count the ways. I love the patterns, the yarn discussions, the people and their flow of ideas. Knitters for Obama, thank you for keeping me up on all the things that were pertinent to the election and some that perhaps weren't. But mostly let me thank you for bringing me so much information. I have learned so many things from Ravelers and their links.

Today I found http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2006/12/casting-on-by-knitting-on-method-also.html
now this is the link to a website of a woman who has all sorts of hints and tips to improve your knitting. The link has a particular hint but do look at the other stuff she has on there, she is amazing. May she LIVE LONG AND PROSPER and keep that website going.

Rosalie Scarf etc

Well the Rosalie Scarf 2 rested for well over a year as just one small end, I started wearing the green one and decided I really needed to finish the goldish one. Now there are days when are supposed to wear Black and Gold as a tribute to the Steelers. I may be the one person in Pittsburgh who doesn't own Steeler stuff other than a terrible towel, shhh don't tell anyone. I laboured long on this baby, to get it finished and it is drying now.

I am thinking of a self imposed yarn diet. I have yarn well truth be told most of it is sock yarn. So my new years pledge is NO SOCK YARN in 2009, (exceptions to this maybe that it isn't bought for socks) okay so I have to leave myself a loophole for when that happens. But I have to say I do love to make a few other items beyond socks. I have made a few hats. Which haven't made their way to the blog or to ravelry as of yet. I now want one of these in red. I have to look at my stash and see what I can come up with.

New Year

Well a New Year is here!!!! 2009 seems weird to type that. I will admit I did not welcome it in at midnight, I was ummm sleeping. I am past the age of wanting to ring into the new year with bells and whistles and alcohol and such. A good new years eve finds me sleeping when it happens. (Can you say DUD) ? Ah well, I happen to welcome the fact that I am a dud in many ways.

Well 2008 was exciting. I was excited about the election. I was excited to witness it. I am very interested to see what Barack Obama can do with this country. I am hopeful but I am also nervous about all the things we expect of this gentleman. The country is in trouble. Not all that was exciting about 2008 was good excitement. The country hit some real potholes in life and now we have to play road repair crew, with limited funds and some people who are anxious to just see President-elect Barack Obama fail.

As years go it was pretty lousy on a number of levels. So be gone 2008 we will never see you again. Welcome 2009. Bring us good things this year. It is a year of babies to be born, there are three in the works that I am awaiting. I suppose that means there is knitting to be done. However I also think that I have projects that need to be finished.

SO I cannot cast on another project until I complete two of the UFO's in my bag of tricks. I did finish one that I am not counting. I have to finish the Rosalie Scarf, its well on its way and I have to finish a pair of socks. Then I have to reach into the yarn bag and prioritize the other works. May this year bring better things and healthy babies.

Not my typical post

I am blue today. I found out a classmate of mine died. Well he didn't just die he actually killed himself, which is even worse. He was 49 years old. He had two children, and I honestly don't know what else what going on his life. I went to high school with him. Paths crossed here and there but not often, he had a different life than I do and you lose touch. But it saddens me, as if there was something I could have done. There was this weird cryptic message in the memory book the paper puts out. It was about the nine of swords. I looked up the Tarot card for that and it was very dark. It saddens me that he took his life and it angers me that he did so leaving two children behind. I am pretty sad at the moment the anger portion is kind of on hold. I am somewhat numb from the shock of it.

Things I have learned

I learned how to do this. Now this may not excite you but for me its big....

I have wanted to do holiday avatars for a long time, oh say a year even and I finally did it. I have no experience with layers and such I just kind of guess. I looked up a holly graphic and I got the holly one and played with it, and then I found the candles and santa hat. So here is my final product. I have a holiday Ravatar. Yeah me.

What excites me?

First let me say this is G rated blog, so what excites me isn't exactly gonna knock off anyones socks. BUT if you knit, you may understand that of which I speak. I just learned the alternate cable cast on. This is EXCITING!!! I love Ravelry. I love the shared knowledge of the knitters there, I love the free patterns, I love the learning experience......... and learning a new knitting thing is just awesome. (mind you I still view myself as a knitting novice) I see these new knitters tackling projects that would blow my mind. But it isn't that I don't want to do these things, I view my knitting as a social thing, being tied down to an intricate pattern is not all that practical. I spend a lot of time with a cousin of mine. I do try to interact with her, and following a pattern closely would be difficult to say the least, and interact. (hey I can barely chew gum and walk).
Anyway the Alternate Cable Cast On rocks. Color me excited.

Color

I remember when television was black and white. Thank God those days are over. Life is full of color, and I enjoy it. But sometimes it can be confusing. Like in the selection of yarn for a project. Now my basic wardrobe is black, not goth just black. Mostly black pants. I do wear a sweater with color in it, mostly one color at a time. I am cautious about wearing florals... for instance. I am not a small woman, so I do not want to assault people with large flowers on my body or assault myself for that matter. OH and bye the way, who the hell makes the clothes for larger women. Some of that stuff is just freakin frightening. Exceedingly large butterflies on blouses, ummmm please give me a break. BIG FLOWERS, yikes..... yikes and more yikes.

So I go into the yarn store and yarn is arrayed in all its glory, beconning to me BUY ME BUY ME. BUT what color do I buy. Well in yarn it isn't black. I don't much care to knit black, its hard on the eyes. Hey what do you want, I am running fast toward 50 and damn I can't slow the clock down. Well I do like RED, GREEN, BLUE, I have even taken on Orange as a color. I know I Hated orange for years. Now its all good. Well perhaps not hunter orange, or criminal orange, but pumpkin, well thats a lovely shade.

Well the other thing that kind of blows my mind is sock yarn. I LOVE SOCK YARN. I love the colors, I love the texture and MOST OF THE TIME I love the way the person who dyed the yarn or the company that dyed the yarn did the arrangement of colors. There is always an exception to the rule. I bought a sock yarn from a company that makes lovely yarns, but the colors annoyed me together. I know I have issues. I knit, and thought well it will improve, I knit some more, it didn't. I hate the sock, I gave the sock to Barb who finished knitting it and its mate and sent it off as a donation. Gone from my sight, not even in my projects on Ravelry. Be gone sock that gave me the fidgets. Someone somewhere loves that sock I am sure. IT WASN't ME.

My Life

I did this post yesterday about Barb and I. Barb and I lived in the same house when were children, we are three years apart age wise. Our parents shared a house, we had the upstairs, and her family had the downstairs, and we didn't think there was anything weird about that at all. Of course it was the sixties, while the rest of the world was doing hippy dippy things we just shared a house and our grandmother lived seven houses down the street from us with our then batchelor Uncle Ralph. Barbs mom and my mom were sisters, unfortunately both are gone now. My mother lost in a baby boy in 1955, and Barb was born the year after. Her mother had a son and a daughter already, so she didn't really mind if my mother (I haven't appeared yet) kind of took over with Barb. I came around in 1959 and Barb and I were inseparable.. WE fought like cats and dogs, and I have issues to this day about Barbie dolls. Barb was always saving hers for her children , it really got on my nerves so I ummmm abused mine. Not to worry the kid down the street actually liked them better than I did and he secretly played with mine. Someone had to like them, so he did.

My mother passed away in 1967 which was of course horrible and a while later my father remarried and I moved away. Now I only moved a matter of blocks away. (this is Pittsburgh remember) we love our towns and boroughs and tend to stay put. I am again living in the house I moved to in 1969. The thing was, now that they had parted us , we only wanted to be together again. We have been close all this time. Barb and I have gone through phases, we did crochet, we did cross stitch, we did an assortment of things. So Ken her husband is right when he talks about the phases, however the knitting thing well I am afraid its more of an obsession than a phase. I happen to think it is okay, I mean look we could be drunks, we could be always looking for that next drink, instead we look for yarn.. When was the last time you heard of anyone causing a fatal accident from yarn fumes? No one runs a ribbon campaign against knitting and driving, (as it happens I am incapable of this I really do need to focus on knitting or driving) I do not combine the two. My worst offense may be looking at yarn purchases at red lights. Well again, Who does that hurt? Besides our habit creates lovely woolen things. In my case mostly socks, but I have hit a hurdle. I have become obsessed with creating a hat I can actually wear and not put on a teddy bear or an infant. So far its hats 4 Jane 0. I have made at least four hats , none of which I can wear. But that ends right now. I am knitting with size 10.75 addi turbos making a hat. (oh um part of the problem could be I don't gauge, and I don't really follow the advice of the pattern), Gee you mean that makes a difference....... Well I am starting again from scratch and designing this as I go. Hold me back so I don't decrease too soon...

So hopefully in a day or two I will claim success.

Sunday afternoon with Barb

My cousin and I chat almost daily. There are things to say. Of course my cousin is more of a sister than a cousin, and we both knit and we both knit socks. She has children and grandchildren I have cats. Her husband thinks the two of us are kooks, he is certain this knit thing is a phase, (secretly hoping it will pass) oh well, keep hoping. So it isn't as easy to get together as you would think, there is always something going on in her life and my life so a Sunday afternoon together is a thing to cherish. This Sunday the game plan was to put together an easy supper and have a knit session while we watched Dexter. She got showtime and has been holding off on watching him since I couldn't. I made a brisket she made eggplant parm and we got our chance. It was wonderful. We traded knitted scarves. I made brisket by putting it a glass dish and covering it with Heinz 57 steak sauce and water (the new stuff with Lee & Perrin in it) Yep the whole bottle. I made it the day before and it was pretty damn good. So we watched Dexter in the living room while her husband watched football. We did pause to eat and for a change Barb actually liked something I cooked. She liked the pattern of the scarf I made. The mistake rib and she liked the edges because I alway slip the first stitch. I learned that on a project and normally I do it on all project that have a straight edge unless the design required you do something else to the first stitch. She ripped back the scarf she had started and did it with the mistake rib stitch.


Okay a day later I am reading this ramble and damn just have the energy to make it make sense. So I am posting it as it is... with all its problems.... lol.

Class with Cat Bordhi

Well I broke down and took the class. I thought heck I have her books, I watch her videos, I can do this. I think if you have the opportunity to take a class from her you should do it. She is very nice and there is something about how her brain works in the creation of socks and things that I don't think can be replicated.

I would say I was the odd one there, I was the lone person who began as a crocheter. Most of the women have been knitting since they were 18 (make that 8) years old. One woman brought her entire collection of socks from the Pathways book. They were incredible. I was one intrigued by someone who had managed to retain that many socks and not give them away. I think there is something to be said for that. I don't know if I will ever manage that. Part of the joy of the creation of socks for me, is having someone wear them and love them.

I also hesitate to cast on yet for one of hers. I am currently working on no less than five pairs of socks. Each is rather simple and each of them has a mate in progress. Because I make sure to do toes and heels at the same time before setting the socks down, its not difficult to pick up where I left off. So there is no real thought involved . This is a good thing.

I bought a lovely green colinette jitterbug that probably wants to be a pair of spring thaw socks. I read on her group of a few who are doing it in green and I think that is the ticket. I will wait till until I get at least two of the pairs done before I begin that sock.

I met Julia of Knitterly Things. She had yarn that made me breathless. Beautiful beautiful postively luminous yarn. MUST HAVE SOME OF THAT.... She had on her sweater Cassidy. It was incredible.