Oh, by the way...

One of the reasons that my progress was/is slow on the FLAK is because I started a sweater for C a while back. I'm finally making some headway and think I can have it done by the weekend. Ha! Famous last words!

I did finish J's socks. Here's a classic photo. One for the memory books. These are his and Mark's feet-I got this shot as they sat on the couch reading the bedtime story. In 20 yrs, I'm going to be really glad I took this one.

I had a little thrill today at my violin lesson. While Monica was reassuring me that I WILL get the whole Right Way to Hold The Violin down she mentioned that it's harder for adults. This reminded me of how this is true of spinning and I muttered something about it. Well, what do you know? Turns out she's been wanting to learn how to spin for some time now.
Mwah hah hah. This should be fun. I'm already plotting what wool/spindle to start her on, etc. You just never know about people-makes me wonder what other friends I have out there looking online for spinning info. OK, well. Maybe not many, I guess it is kind of a long shot.

Just knitting along...

No big news here-just staying with it. I forgot to take pics of the saddles and now they have the back attached and stitch markers everywhere! I'm seriously wanting to take them(the markers) out-I probably will wait a few more rows to insure that I truly have a handle on these cables. They look good so far! I've had a few errors but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
J's socks are coming along, too. I'm ready to turn the heel-they are going quickly but nevertheless, I will be glad to see that last end woven in! No more knitting the kiddo's socks one at a time! T spied some brown Sport and Sock yarn in my Sock Bag-I guess he's next? We shall see. With FLAK and the Knitting Olympics looming, I don't know if I should undertake anything else. But then again, a little mindless stockinette could be very soothing.

My sister gave me a lovely makeup bag for Christmas-she told me that's what it was, or I would've thought it was a purse-it's huge! So, I dutifully put my makeup in and went along for several days before I had the startling realization. That is not a makeup bag. It's a knitting bag. Silly me. It now holds the aforementioned socks. Yes, two sock bags, but the Sock Bag is rather large compared to the purse/sock bag and it holds all my sock yarns and general info-so, I think I like the new arrangement very well. The big one was getting a little crowded.
I need to take a few days and teach J and C to knit. They are old enough now. And I sure could use the dishcloths :~)
And the strawberries are sprouting!

Another swatch!

I love this second FLAK swatch. I hope to be able to get the saddles knit before the next set of instructions come out next week.

I started my Alpine Stawberry seeds last night. I plan to have regular strawberries in addition to the alpines and will have some serious canning going on next year if all goes well. I ordered them from Johnny's along with some Red and Yellow Pear Tomatoes and an ornamental pepper of some sort. All my seeds got replaced this year. I bought all my usual salad stuff(from Walmart) for Spring and Fall but for summer all I am planning is the aforementioned berries and tomatoes and then some regular tomato plants for canning sauce and salsa.

At last!

The winner is......#9! My 9th swatch finally achieved the proper gauge. I had to wrap the yarn around the fingers of my left hand in a new and intriguing way but I finally got gauge on my size 3 Addi Turbos. I did not want to go smaller than that. And that's Moss stitch, too, my filler stitch of choice. Now, let's see how the second swatch goes. Should be interesting.
I hope to start the heel flap for J's second sock this afternoon. Finishing these before the Knitting Olympics begin will be a feat in itself.

It's here somewhere...

Apparently, I've lost my mind. Not only am I knitting like a fury every spare moment in order to catch up with the FLAK group, I've just boasted that I can knit an entire sweater during the Winter Olympics. After a lot of pondering, I've decided to downsize a bit.
Three reasons.
#1 Attempting to knit in 16 days a sweater that took Yarn Harlot 3 years to finish is utterly ridiculous.
#2 Especially when I made not less than FIVE errors in the swatch alone. One of which I did not even see until it was drying on the counter and I was attempting to measure the thing. That did give me a little jolt, I tell you.
#3 This one is the most important. (?) A mistake stitch cardigan on a 6' tall, thin woman? I may as well have a sign painted-"Tallest Woman Alive" and stick it on my forehead, 'cause that's what everyone will be thinking. This realization pains me a little because for some inexplicable reason, I love mistake stitch cardigans. I want one. However, I do not want to knit one that I will only wear while at home because I look like a sideshow in the circus.

So! I'm getting over it. Last night, while I was talking the whole thing over with Barbara Walker(well, her 1st Treasury, really) she kindly suggested that perhaps a Double Seed stitch might be more the thing. Or maybe a Swedish Check? Or even the Twisted Check on pg. 117?
See? The idea is starting to grow on me.

AND! I can knit a mistake stitch(I just have to, somehow) moebius scarf for Stephanie's challenge. I really like the one in the Knitting Around book. Always have. Since I got a lovely new coat from my beloved for Christmas-I need a scarf/hood thingie anyway. Accomplishing this will certainly fall into the difficult category-what with four young children and a pattern that I have some trouble knitting correctly-but will not reduce me to a gibbering idiot by Day 4 like the sweater would have. Making it out of BLACK wool will raise the bar even higher. So-there you go.

My sock method

I started out J's socks with DPN's trying to learn the toe-up method. I had a great pattern-I simply didn't like it. So I jerked it out and went to cuff down. This is the way I learned to knit socks. Not my preferred method, but still familiar. Just past the heel flap, I gave in.
I simply prefer knitting socks on two circulars. In fact, I really wish I had started both at once. These are children's socks and move along fast enough. With all the distraction of FLAK, it's going to be tough getting through that second sock.
Where I really love this method is the heel/toe areas. So much simpler. They just fly. Well, you know, sort of. It is still knitting.
Plus, they are SO much easier to try on. That one is pretty important. I have such a horror of finishing an item and then finding it's not quite right. Hmmm...why could that be?
See how handy this is? No transferring sts to a length of wool or juggling DPN's, just slip it on and admire-or adjust your plan-whichever you need.
Looking pretty good so far! He likes them, too. Even better!

A little multi-tasking

Please disregard the last words of my previous post. I spoke in haste. Since I finished these

I decided it wouldn't be too terrible to have one big and one small project going. So, I joined the FLAK (Follow the Leader Aran Knit A Long) group on Yahoo and have started swatching. The fact that I have been knitting for 8 yrs or more and never swatched a thing should say something about my trepidation about knitting my first aran.
I am still comitted to the socks-see their adjacent location to the fledging swatch?

I think it's kind of funny that I have two red projects!

And on the learning front-
I'm reading Debi Pearl's Created to be his Helpmeet. I thought my marriage couldn't get better-what with Mark making up half the deal-but this book has pointed out many attitudes in my heart of which I was unaware. Of course, I don't agree with EVERYTHING. Also after doing a little searching through their website, it became apparent that we do have some substantial differences. So, another case of take the good, throw away the bad. I'm glad I bought it.

I had my first violin lesson today. Turns out a friend from our former church is a Suzuki instructor. Now, I'm not quite as intimidated of tuning but I'm pretty freaked out by the Way To Hold The Bow and Violin. I'll have plenty to practice before next week!

Determination

I finished slipper #1 last night and immediately started the next one before going to bed. Too late. A dozen new and exciting projects are beckoning. I do so want to start C's pink sweater. It's that lovely Paton's Merino. She really NEEDS another sweater...
And then there's J's handspun socks that I've already started-He's been waiting so long-I really should finish those up really quick and give them to him. And then there's that great red wool for a sweater for him. What pattern stitch should I use? Something with cables, I think...
And I just got the rest of the WOTA from Knitpick's that I need for my mistake stitch cardi. Oh, and the Andean Treasure for my scallop stitch version...
And then I simply must try one of Cat Bordhi's moebius capes.
And there's that wonderful Beth Brown-Reinsel pattern I picked up at SAFF. I even have the yarn for it!

OK. I feel better now. Somehow-getting it all typed out helps my resistance.
I will finish that second slipper before knitting something else. THEN, I will pick up J's socks and FINISH them. I have a will of iron.

felting magic

I decided to make a pair of Fiber Trends felted slippers for my dh for Christmas. His were falling apart-I already have the pattern/yarn-it's a new thrill, etc. Just one problem... didn't have the needles. Oh, well. In a project emergency, just grab some twist-up crayons and sticky-tac. They actually worked fairly well for the soles and helped me in my "must start these now" fit.

I did, however, get to the store and procure the real thing. So, the slippers continued on and became this

I wish I had stuck my foot in there to show how ridiculously huge they were. Think clown feet. Notice how much yarn I had left? Look closer...

Ha! Oh, the joy! It's a little irrational...

Skip to end...

Pretty nifty. I have a pair for me in purple and black on the needles and C has requested a pink pair.