Inching along

I was trying to get a good photo of the lovely instep - gosh, that Evelyn A. Clark writes a lovely pattern! - but this will have to do. I'm working on getting through most of the foot tonight. I'm hoping the mens' and women's swimming tonight will spur me on. I'm getting ready for my last tri of the season on Sunday and it's making me a little antsy. Supposedly, you're supposed to taper but that just makes me worry . . . maybe the knitting will help!

A good Olympic start!

You would think that during the Rav Olympics, I would be doing nothing but knitting. However, I only managed to get a few inches in between yesterday and today. But I am at the heel, so, I'll be moving on before you know it. I think it's harder to knit and watch the Olympics because they are so darn exciting. Even beach volleyball has been fun to watch! And as for my favorite, swimming - go Phelps, go!



Cleaning-wise, I decided to re-alphabetize my cd drawer - something that I do about once every three years - and these tapes and cds just didn't make the cut. Off to the rummage sale!

Now, time for a little sleep . . .

. . . and I didn't have any wood handy.

I'm not sure my mother understands why I would want to write about knitting so that people I don't know can read it but . . . sometimes, you just get a little obsessed. My obsession is knitting. No one at my house wants to talk about knitting quite as much as I do but . . . there is always someone on the Internet who does.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2Hs2rgto8

I got this little gem from Knit Redplaid, a Canadian knitter with a great sense of humor.



In the meantime, I've been finishing my pair of Go with the Flow socks. When I went to weave in the ends (only at the cuff and the two), I found a loop of yarn inside the sock, running from one section to another but still completely skipping a section of pattern in between. All I can think of is that I ripped back a section and missed knitting in a line of stitches. But, it doesn't look wrong from the outside. Hmm. Well, I'll tack the loop down so it doesn't get caught by a toe and let it go at that.

I think my camera's flash is still affecting the color of these socks - they are really dark, jewel tones and just lovely. I just couldn't brave the cold temperatures to take a photo outside. Now, it's up to a balmy 17 degrees F.

C'est magnifique!

And it was taking up all my time. This is what's been eating up all my evening knitting time. We usually pull out puzzles at Christmas time at our house and we received this one as a gift. So, it was out on the puzzle table after the holidays and man, what a time sink! The actual puzzle was easy but the putting it up was one small adjustment at a time. I'd look up and the whole evening would be gone. Zut, zut et zut! Luckily, Oldest Daughter's friends came over for a movie party on Monday and helped finish it off.

I've been outside the Eiffel Tower but never on and this is as close as Youngest Child will be for some years. His "helping" also slowed things down a bit but he enjoyed the work and was pretty patient about the whole thing.



I also had another rip session with the gusset of the second GWTF sock. I've figured out that a) this mysterious looseness has to to with how I pick up the stitches for the gusset and b) if I want the instep pattern to be centered (that is, begin and end with the double purl portion of the pattern), I have to re-jigger the spot where I begin the heel flap. As I am not going back to redo the heel flap, I ended up picking up a different number of gusset stitches on each side. So, that is another mark against this pair of socks ever making it to the state fair. It is a learning experience for the pair I will someday knit for me, however!

I was aiming for the lovely gusset but my up-close photography skills leave something to be desired. Blogger is acting up a bit right now so I think I better post what I've got and leave perfection well enough alone.

Down, down it goes

Knitting is what I want to do today. Knitting is not what I got to do today. My daughters' school has an Oldies Dance coming up and I had to to take some of them out to look for costumes. Despite the high of, oh, 6 degrees F., we went from place to place and finally ended up with a Seventies outfit and and a 1950s outfit. One daughter would make a lovely bank teller or elementary school teacher in about 1970 and the other should make a nice Society matron, hat and all. I still have cold feet! I also picked up a copy of "Bend the Rules Sewing." It has some very cute patterns for baby items that I am going to attempt for Up-and-coming Baby Sven.



Knitting-wise, I'm working on the second of the "Go with the Flow" socks. It is so soothing now that I've memorized the leg pattern. My first sock turned out well - so nice that I was depressed to find one set of loose stitches on the gusset. One side is lovely - one just two stitches off. There goes the State Fair entry! Hopefully, blocking the sock will make it less noticeable. That's what Elizabeth Zimmerman calls "ein Schönheitsfehler," or a beauty flaw.



As for the Saturday Seven, things were just falling into my lap. One pair of jeans in a finish which I never liked, an outgrown pair of shorts for Youngest Child, two vases that came with Oldest Daughter's spinning gear, an old paper towel holder and a toothbrush head kit for the wrong toothbrush. Sometimes, getting rid of things is easy. I'm not ready to pack up and move any time soon (Carol told me that was her goal for sorting things - to get rid of enough things that she could pack up and move with only a week's notice!) but we are whittling things down. Off they go to St. John the Evangelist!

Reddy Spaghetti!

I pulled out the unfinished string bag out of the bottom of my knitting bag and decided to work on it a bit. It still looks like a hideous pile of string or a dish of red spaghetti. I've looked the pattern up on Ravelry and other people seem to finish it quite easily. Me - it's beating me up. I think it's my big Turbo needles - they are just too blunt and slippery. BUT I will forge on - I'm too cheap to buy new needles just to finish this one bag.



I've progressed way past this point on the "Go with the Flow" socks but I haven't been able to catch Oldest Daughter to have her try on the sock. I must just make it to fit my own foot - but add a little something extra. She's about two shoe sizes larger than me!



I cast on Evelyn A. Clark's "Paws to Remember" scarf as a birthday present for my sister-in-law. She is a dog trainer and a dog show judge and I'm hoping this will be a nice surprise. She doesn't read this blog so I am pretty sure that, as long as I don't knit it in front of her, it will stay a surprise. It is going very quickly - this is about one evenings worth of work.

Saturday Seven Rides again!

Just seven of the oh, about 20 items we weeded out of Oldest Daughters closet this afternoon.

Two tan skirts, a broomstick pleated "hippie" skirt, a pair of orange corduroy pants, a velvet shirt, a long sleeved red tee and a black and white sports jacket that she swore she had lost.

Along the way, she had a much needed lesson on how to hang up dress pants and why expensive new blazers should be hung on hangers and not on pegs on the door. I did NOT yell but I may tomorrow when I ask her to sort out her drawers. See what happens when vacations drag on too long?!

Knitting wise, I am toddling along on the EAC Go With the Flow socks. I think the yarn is Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in something like Autumn, possibly Indian Summer. For some reason, I just love the way her mind works. Once you dive into the pattern, they are very easy to continue with. I may even revisit some patterns of hers in the next year . . .