An actual knitting post!

On Wednesdays I meet some women at lunchtime to knit and I brought my sock along. I am doing a heart lace pattern on it and there is a part where you have to knit 4 together, as I said in an earlier post. I was using a crochet hook but Peggy, the wisest, told me to just make those stitches loose in the previous row and I should be able to forego the hook. And she was right! It works much better. She's making a scarf where she does a knit 7 together front and back and she also tried the crochet hook deal, but it's too awkward. Making loose stitches - priceless! Here's a close up of the sock so far.

I also worked on an earflap hat. The yarn is called "Eskimo" and it's wool with bits of metallic ribbon. Pretty cool and super soft. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have much left for a scarf. I guess it'll just have to be a short one.

The snow is melting today and it has warmed up quite a bit, thank goodness, since I've got to be out driving in it this evening. I'd rather drive in the slop than the ice.

It's brutal

Ooooooo still cold! Very cold. Right now it's 25 degrees outside. I walked into work again today. It is too icy to bike in. And it's supposed to snow again today but, if the weather report is correct, it should warm up and we'll get rain tomorrow.

I did some knitting last night and it was goooood! I worked on the socks. I'm doing a heart lace pattern and now that I'm using a crochet hook for the k4tog, it is coming along better. I think tonight though I'm going to make myself an earflap hat with some yarn that I bought last January when I was in Paris. I usually only wear hats when I'm on the ski slopes - those knit types of hats, I mean. But it is so cold here now that I think I would actually wear it. And if not, I can give it away. No shortage of takers around here.

I had a very long walk yesterday. After walking in to work, I needed to go to the post office, then the bank and then I needed groceries. It was a long circle but, as I had hoped, I got all of my errands done and got home in time to get Tinkerbell her walk before it got dark. I didn't want to be slipping and sliding along in the dark! And poor little Tinkie! She doesn't like the cold and I get lots and lots of doggie love! She sat in the chair next to me while I read the paper and knit a bit. She likes to be right IN my lap which sometimes make it a bit awkward but I work around it. It's worth it.

It's not even winter yet!!

What is up with this weather??? First it rains like ... like crazy. And now it's snowy and cold. The streets are just sheets of ice. I hear that many people got stuck going home from the football game last night. It was snowing at the game! We were playing Green Bay on Monday Night Football and I'll bet people thought the game was in Green Bay rather than Seattle. Snow was covering the field and the groundsmen were running back and forth across the 10 yard lines with snow shovels, scraping off the snow as fast as it fell. It was pretty amazing. And the game was awesome!! It was exciting to see one of my heroes. AND it was great that the Seahawks were able to win. It didn't look good there for a while. Hasselbeck didn't have his timing and kept throwing interceptions. But they got it together and it was very exciting. I watched the end of it at home on TV.

I got a ride from my friend since I was so jet lagged I just couldn't face driving plus which I hate driving when there's snow. The snowfall from Sunday night had pretty much disappeared by Monday afternoon but Monday evening right before kickoff is when it started up again. Her babysitter informed her at half time that the roads were closing around her house so we took off a little into the third quarter which was, in retrospect, exactly the right thing to do. By the time we got to my exit off the freeway you could see nothing but tail lights ahead of us. She barely made it home last night -- the hills were starting to get slick. I was going to drive in today because of Dad's doctor's appointments but I was talked out of it and so I walked in. I nearly fell several times. It is just ice all over. The streets are crazy slick. I cancelled my AM appointment tomorrow just in case there's no change.

I am itching to get back to knitting!! I had about an hour to knit last night but each of my 3 projects that I have on the needles is at a point where I need to take some time to figure out where I am and where I'm going, if you know what I mean. I don't have a project that I can just pick up and mindlessly knit like I usually do. Tonight I'll have time to get organized. I want to get a little more into that sock and see if the lace pattern I picked out will work and I have a pair of Fetching mitts I'm making for our office Christmas gift exchange but I'm making them a little longer on both ends, so I have to find the row counter I was using .... oops .... and figure out where I am on my repeats. Then my Ogee Tunic sleeves sitting there in their basket, looking a little neglected. I feel guilty.

And back to reality

My posts from my phone show up okay but it's very difficult to put any content in there because I don't think it accepts much text. The picture of Starbucks didn't come out as well as I had hoped. And it's not the only Starbucks in Paris, mind you! I just don't get it. The French have the best coffee and yet they go to Starbucks! Also, it has invaded London as well!!! Somehow it makes more sense to me to see them there.

My trip was wonderful on so many levels. Knitting? Not so much. I did work on the sock that I brought along but the pattern I have chosen for the top of the sock has a k4tog and it is just plain impossible to do. I think I'm going to have to use a crochet hook. So because of that I didn't get much done and now I've got to really dig in and get some knitting done!! Projects are stacking up.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have had a great day in London. I tried to get a picture of swans but it was too bright for my phone. I was going toing to

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Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

Just plain wrong

What next?

How normal

I love this about Paris. Dogs in bars.

Cocktail time

And away we go!

It's a race

I'm knitting as fast as I can, trying to get those darned socks finished and off the needles so I can cast on a new one to take with me on my trip. I only have a few inches to go but it seems to take forever! I must say I am absolutely thrilled with this second sock. I have gotten the toe-up gusset heel down and it looks so good! I tried to take a close up picture of it Wednesday but it was too light and the detail washed out. I'll try again because it really is nice. I am looking forward now to doing this next pair because I feel like I've worked out all the bugs and have finally come up with Shelley's Simply Perfect Socks. Only two ends to weave in - the start and the finish. No grafting. The toe is cast on with the Turkish cast-on method which leaves no seam. The gusset heel, which I got from this site, is easy to do and looks like a top down sock heel. I think I can even do two at once with this method but it's going to take a bit of working out, especially the cast-on bit. But first I'm going to take pictures of the process with one sock, start to finish. After that I'll try two. I'm not all that keen on two at once because I don't think it's all that much faster (if at all) and there's the added annoyance of that second piece of yarn getting tangled up AND I don't seem to have the second sock syndrome. But just to know that I can do it, since I made such a hash of the top down two at once that I tried.

I haven't forgotten my Ogee Tunic. In fact I look longingly at it every evening. I only have a few inches to do on the sleeves but it's not first priority. When I get back from vacation I'll finish off the sleeves and block them and then cast on for the front. It's going to be a looooong go and I'm just going to take my time. I have also been thinking about the turtle neck I'm going to make with the nice soft Cashmerino Chunky I got. I'm going to have to just choose a cable and run with it. I just keep finding such pretty ones! I'm going to wing the pattern, but it's going to be a top down raglan and I'm going to start at the turtle neck and work down rather than picking up stitches for it afterwards. You know ... as I write this I am thinking that the reason turtle necks are picked up and knit afterwards is probably for the shaping so that you can get that little dip in the front that shows the front from the back. I don't think it's all that important and I'm going to only do the cables on the front of the sweater anyway since I'm not certain I have enough yarn to do front AND back AND sleeves. This Magknits pattern is a top down turtle neck and it looks fine so I think it can be done.

Every year we have a little Christmas party at work where everyone brings a gift and you draw a number and then pick gifts in order but you can either get a new one or one that someone else already has. It's fun and the past 3 years I've brought something I knit. The first year it was a scarf and hat set and I had just re-started knitting and crocheting and it was gawd awful! The next year I felted a purse and threw in a matching scarf and it was a big hit. Last year was another scarf and hat set but this one much nicer. This year I just wasn't sure if I should knit something but one of the girls asked me was I going to, because she sure would like some fingerless mitts! Well okay then! Problem solved. I have some recycled cashmere that I have been trying to unload on eBay and not getting a nibble so I'm making some Fetching mitts but I'm making them with two more repeats on the cuffs so they're a little longer. They go so quickly.

I'm going to stop by the yarn shop I found in Paris while I'm there (like I need a few more odd balls of yarn ....) and I'm hoping I'll have time while I'm in London to search out a shop. Maybe I should do a little internet sleuthing before I leave.

Too sick to knit

I mean who is ever too sick to knit? I got hit over the head with some little virus though and I was out Monday and Tuesday. I've been running errands for my dad today and now at 4 pm just trying to wind down. I feel bad but hey! not as bad as I have been feeling, so that's a good thing! I've got to go to work Thursday and Friday no matter what and I've signed up for a race Sunday before my trip, so I'm hoping I'll make a speedy recovery.

The weather here is beyond crap. I can't even try to describe it - think wind and rain and more wind and more rain until you want to scream. Then more. I had to drop my car off at the service station today because one of the "Service Car NOW" lights came on so I am praying for at least a little break in the weather tomorrow for my ride in. Keep those fingers crossed.

I finished my Noro Raglan over the weekend. I decided to just keep the neckline a simple boat neck and put a row of single crochet around it. It's nice and simple and it looks great with straps of a cami showing. No pictures on me but here's one on the couch. It's not quite so vivid as this pictures show up on my computer screen but it's colorful for sure. When I bound off the cuffs I didn't do it in k2p2, but just knit and it make a little ruffle-y bit which I quite like.

I'm almost done with my second Crusoe sock. Need to keep at that so I can get a new one started for something to do on my trip (should I have spare time, that is). It's gotten changed a bit - my itinerary. Instead of going to Amsterdam we're going to London instead, which is better because the train ride is much shorter.

One down

I finished up my first Noro project for Norovember. Unfortunately no picture today. The lighting was terrible and my camera phone doesn't have a flash. I'll take pictures with my real camera tomorrow. I put fringe on the bottom of it and I'm re-thinking it. I am leaning toward taking it off. I am so NOT careful when I put fringe on a scarf, it always ends up looking haphazard and lame. But the scarf is nice and warm and very colorful. Next I must finish up that sweater. I know I've only got a few hours left to go on it. I still don't know what I'm going to do to finish the neck. Maybe I'll try it on when I get that sleeve finished and see if it looks good with a shirt underneath because that was my original thought. If that's the case then I'll just pick up stitches around the neckline and do a k2p2 rib for a few rows. And THEN ... then I will start that Fake Isle hat. And I also need to finish my second sock. Maybe I should do a push on that after I finish the sweater. I will only have a week to get it done and get the sock for traveling cast on and started. n Oh so many wonderful projects! And never enough time.

"Lost" was pretty good last night. I can't believe that we've got to wait 13 weeks though! That sucks. February 7 it starts up again. And no repeats since people got so fed up with that last season. Maybe I can get caught up on some reading. ha

I picked up the sleeves to my Ogee Tunic last night after I finished that scarf, thinking I'd get a few minutes in on them. I am nearly to the sleeve cap shaping but it had been so long since I'd knitted on it I forgot exactly where I was (even though there's a stitch counter there). Did the stitch counter 11 mean I was finishing the 11th row *or* that this was the 1st rows of the second 12 row repeat. I am pretty sure it's the former but I didn't want to goof up by making another increase row just in case so I put it down. I don't want to lose touch with that project. It's going to be a gorgeous sweater. The fact that the needles are so small - it just goes a lot more slowly than my other projects.

It's about time!

The Seahawks were awesome last night! yay Monday Night Football!! Finally erasing that meltdown on Sunday night football. If you haven't heard, it's raining like crazy here in Seattle. No no .. it really doesn't rain all the time here. Yesterday it was 63 degrees (a record high) and pouring rain. Needless to say the game was a soggy one, but my seats are covered so I didn't care! It was a solid beating and we sacked their quarterback like 9 times or something.

So no knitting. By the time I got home and decompressed I was ready to sleep. I should be able to knit some tonight. Maybe finish up my Noro pullover.

It's a Noro thing

It seems there are quite a few Noro obsessed people out there in Knitland. Nonnahs was kind enough to point me to this site - a blogger promoting her own Noro obsession, Norovember. I signed up -- of course I did! While I spent the greater part of Friday, Saturday AND Sunday fetching and carrying for my Dad, I did have some time to knit. I've got a stripped scarf in the work. I'm using the Noro Silk Garden I nabbed on sale at my LYS and some left over Kureyon. Except I was running out of the left over stuff too fast, so I stopped by and bought another skein to work the scarf, and a skein to work ... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's the scarf. It's very squishy. I'm doing a 2x2 rib on size 11 needles - 24 stitches. It's going to be warm. And aren't the colors gorgeous?

While I was at my LYS I also bought a skein of Lamb's Pride in black and a skein of Noro in some gorgeous greens for the Fake Isle hat from Magknits. I'm interested in trying Fair Isle and this will be a fun way to do it. The Noro looks a little drag in this picture, but it's really not.

And finally, I did get more work done on the raglan pullover. I'm still not sure what to do about the neck but I've got a few more repeats to do on the sleeve before I have to make that decision. These pictures were taken with my real camera and thus the colors are much more honest than the ones taken with my camera phone. Here's a closeup of the sleeve: The cables are the same as the ones used on the ribbing on the bottom. I guess the picture could have used a bit more contrast. And here's a picture of the whole thing.

A little good news ... a little bad news

I took my bike to get fixed yesterday. Fortunately the repair guy cleaned out the shifter first and lo and behold, it worked! So he phoned to tell me that he didn't need to replace the shifters. yay! When I went to pick up the bike after work most of the repair guys were gone and there was a note on my bike saying that there were too many things wrong with it to make it worthwhile to fix! Then some notation that the rims were shot. Heaven knows I've put some miles on that bike. I've had it for over 12 years and I ride it all year around. I guess that means that the next time something major happens I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get a new bike. With all that's happening around me now I'm not even going to entertain the idea. Long may she roll!!!

And speaking of rolling - we were rolling in the pouring rain today. As I said it would, it warmed up so I'm not complaining. I've got rain gear and we all know I'm not made of sugar and therefore will not melt.

I had a cozy evening last night, a little knitting and I watched "Over the Hedge" and then "Lost" (which was excellent although I'm going to miss the character that kicked it last night). I don't know what I would do if I were Jack! Anyway .... I knit a bit on my sock and then a good bit on the raglan cardigan. I got the sleeve shaping done and have started on the wrist cable ribbing. Goofed up my stripe matching though. This particular colorway has pink at both ends and I thought I was getting the pink that goes into purple end when in fact I got the pink that goes into another pink end so they're not going to match. But what the heck -- it's a goofy looking sweater and it's not supposed to match anyway!

What's next?

First it was my dryer on Saturday. And now it's my bike. Of course I know the shifter had been getting worse but now it won't shift at all. Unfortunately my bike is over 10 years old and now road bikes have 10 gears, mine just 7. I ran into this problem a couple years ago when I had the rear cassette replaced and they had to order the part and it took for-freakin'-ever. This time I'm smart - I'm looking for the replacement part myself FIRST. I spoke to a guy at the bike shop where I purchased this bike all those years ago and he was the one who told me about the gears being different. I asked him if they had the part - no. I asked him how much we were talking for a replacement and he said oh about $50, plus labor. With a little research on the internet I find that I can get the pair of shifters for $24.99. The PAIR. I think I'm going to buy the things and have someone install them. That makes most sense and that way I can get both done at the same time.

I didn't do any serious knitting last night. I was in the mood for instant gratification again. I was scoping out my stash and looked at the two balls of Noro Silk Garden. I decided to just make a simple ribbed scarf out of it to watch the lovely color changes. Doesn't take much to amuse me. Oooo, what color next?? It'll be perfect for "Lost" tonight.