When you ain't got it,

Fake it. Apparently the only 6.5mm circs I have are way too long for this. So I am using a set of 6mm DPNs along with my 6.5mms and rearranging stitches so I am always using a 6.5mm to knit with. Fortunately I am past this part now and onto a set of 7mms and my circs are just the right size.

The Kiddie Capelete is coming along nicely. Although if I bound off quickly in the round I could end up with a crazy chef hat.

The Mr. wrote his test this morning and missed it by one frickin question. To say that he is wicked would be a bit of an understatement right now. Poor guy. He's been studying like mad too.

My interview is later today, I hope it goes better than his test. We could use a pick us up today.

11

Short pages and I find out that I am on the right path for me.

Generous Inventor

Yep, I do think that patterns are an invention of sorts. Although I have had an idea or two gelling in my head for a while. Who knew patents cost so dang much.

What are you about?

My personalDNA Report

The Mr. is going to write his final M (Aviation Maintenance Engineer) license tomorrow morning and has to leave tonight. Wish us luck. This is his third attempt at it and we really want this to be the last attempt. It is a very difficult exam since he doesn't work on the kind of engine the majority of the questions focus on and they are very detailed. What makes it even more difficult is that the multiple choice answers are almost right or could work to fix the problem, you have to pick the one that the manuals and the study books say you should. So fun.

Also I have a job interview tomorrow. To say that there are a few nerves around here, well. Poor kids. Let's hope it's nice enough for them to play outside most of the day.

Simple, not easy.

I'm now on the bodice of Girly's dress. I am quite glad that this is a bit more complicated than stockinette since I need a bit of a distraction. I'm feeling a bit annoyed lately. It seems that once I decide it's okay for the status quo to change, I want it to happen yesterday, last week even. Hopefully a change in stitch patterns will help with the need for change to happen now.

It might also explain my drive to finish up old projects and yet still be casting on for new ones. I am quite proud of this yarn cake. I'm getting better at using my fingers to start a ball and transferring to my thumb for the winding.

I found this cute little poncho type thing that has a nice collar and is solid around the shoulders and upper chest. It doesn't take a whole lot of yarn either so this one ball of Cascade 220 should be enough even if I change it a bit. I'm thinking it would be perfect for Girly now that the air has a bit of a chill in it every morning, but still warms up in the afternoon.

Morning.

Me: Hi Girly, did you have a good sleep?

Girly: Huh-uh.

Me: Wannna put on a hat for Mommy?

Girly: Huh-uh.

Me: Say cheese!

Girly:

Hello, Camera!

There are a few pictures in this post. It's probably a good thing I can't put a lot of pictures in any one post or this page would take a long time for even fast connections to load.

I'm still doing well on the finishing of projects and managed to get a couple more off the needles completely.

The Pudorosa got it's crocheted edging. It's not really that skinny. I have it folded in quarters to make it easier to photograph. I have to figure out how to block it and get 12 pretty matching closures for it. Then it will be completely done, but there is no more knitting or crocheting required for it.

Girly's Boa is finished. I didn't use the whole ball of yarn since there is a lot in there and she would have been tripping over it. I cast on something else with the remaining ball. I may be going hard on the finishing, but I am still doing the starting thing. She loves it and we had fun with our photo shoot.

The skirt portion of this is about 2 inches from done, then the bodice. That is one ball of El. D. Mouzakis Butterfly Mercerized Cotton Super 10. Amazing amount of yardage in them! It falls to just above her knees, but since I want a small waistband to help with the stretching before starting the bodice, I have to add a bit more to compensate for the fold.

I made myself a little shawl pin type thing for my Guardian's Tail. Not a professional job, but I like how it looks. I bought some Dark Annealed Steel from the hardware store and went to town with the swirls and curls. It works pretty well.

There was a fall fair in Dryden on the weekend and we had a great time. Girly got a picture drawn. She thought that was the best thing ever and did really well considering it took about 1/2 hour to draw. Including a few interruptions and Girly getting up to see the drawing. It turned out beautifully and she loves it.

Girly had a grand time on the rides too. She saw a couple of kids on the adult rides screaming and holding their arms in the air, so to the entertainment of myself and many other parents, she screamed and held her arms in the air for at least 1/4 of the time on nearly every ride. The carousel was the only exception.

She was very entertained by the fact that they had little boats just like Daddy's big boat.


Here are some of the many green things around. Let us speak of them now, then hold our peace for the next month. I am not ready yet.

Guardian's Tail

There is a treasure that people cannot live without. We love it, crave it, travel for it and if it were not so elusive, would hoard it. This treasure is so valuable, the destitute spend their last coins to have it and so vital it is illegal in Canada to have it taken away during the months when it is needed most. It is ours naturally and at times is even free. This little scarf will help you to guard the greatest treasure known to man; warmth. Like a sleeping dragon with it's tail wrapped around a hoard of jewels and golden objects. Heat emanating from it's body warming the air near it.

Materials:

1 skein Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals 80m/88yds (Aran/Worsted weight) if making a substitution, I recommend something with silk, or another fibre that has a bit of shine to the colours. That way you get the look of dragon skin.

5mm needles or whatever needles give you a stitch definition you like.

Tapestry needle

Shawl pin

Gauge: Not important with this yarn weight, the scarf is quite wide and you could use a thinner weight yarn if you prefer a skinner scarf.

Finished and blocked dimensions: Width - 13.5cm/5.25" Length - 68.5cm/27"

Warning before you start knitting. This scarf curls and has a slight bias. If you don't like this you will have to block often. The scarf is only long enough to go around your neck once and be pinned closed at your collar bone so the curling and the bias won't be very noticeable. If you decide to knit the scarf anyway consider yourself warned.

Pattern:

Cast on 24 sts

Row 1(right side) - K1, p1, k1, *k4, k2tog, yo* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Row 2 - K1, p2, *yo, p1, p2tog, p3* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, p2, k1
Row 3 - K1, p1, k1, *k2, k2tog, k2, yo* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Row 4 - K1, p2, *yo, p3, p2tog, p1* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, p2, k1
Row 5 - K1, p1, k1, *k2tog, k4, yo* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Row 6 - K1, p3, *p4, yo, p2tog* repeat *to* to last 2 sts, p1, k1
Row 7 - K1, p1, k1, *k1, yo, k3, k2tog* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Row 8 - K1, p2, *p2tog, p2, yo, p2* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, p2, k1
Row 9 - K1, p1, k1, *k3, yo, k1, k2tog* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Row 10 - K1, p2, *p2tog, yo, p4* repeat *to* to last 3 sts, p2, k1

Repeat rows 1 - 10 until you only have enough yarn for three rows. Repeat Rows 1 and 2 then cast off using a stretchy method. I tried something new, but I think I would have preferred a sewn cast off more.



This pattern is strong enough for a handdyed yarn with a lot of colours, but I think I would skip the self-striping ones. Of course the pattern will show up more with a less fuzzy yarn. There is enough interest to be able to use a fuzzy yarn though.


As always, if you have any problems with this pattern, feel free to ask and I will do my best to help you.

One down, loads to go.

I have managed to get one project off the needles. It feels nice and I'm hoping this drive to finish stuff keeps going strong so it looks a little less cluttered in this corner. We've already had one frost warning (never happened) and it won't be long now before fall is here. I refuse to look at the trees right now. The Mr. says they are turning colour and I am insisting that they are green. Green, I tell you!

Right, finished project. Ahem. This is Guardian's Tail. So named since the pattern and slight iridescence of the yarn remind me of the small scales on a dragon's tail. It's the perfect size to wrap around your neck and keep your treasure safe. When you are cold, warmth is a greater treasure than any jewel, metal or piece of paper. It wraps once around my neck and meets at my collar bone so I think I am going to get some steel wire from the hardware store and see if I can make myself a little shawl pin type thing. I have to block it yet and one side is insisting on folding right over due to the pull of the stitches, but I really like it. Pattern and dimensions tomorrow.

Some of the flowers the Mr. got me for our anniversary got bent by a couple of furballs. Thankfully, they are still alive and beautiful. They are now the perfect size to put in a little aperitif glass and have as tiny centrepieces. I love Alstromeria they smell so nice and the colours are beautiful.

Rant and Roll

Our internet connection is crappy today also excessively slow. Apparently when an internet/cable provider that rhymes with Haw bought out our other provider, they decided that they didn't have to upgrade any of their servers since it's a small town. Now things bog down, shut down and or generally make me crazy. We pay a frickin' fortune for 2M and on a good day we think it's doing awesome if we hit 1M. Lately it hasn't been much faster than dial-up though. The other day when I uploaded more than two pictures, I cleaned the bathroom in the time it took for them to show up here.

In the time it took me to type this out the internet crapped out again. I'm saving this to Word and publishing later. We are getting a discount if not a rebate for this month for sure.

In other news, between all of these, I am knitting too many things to have any real progress to show.


Hopefully tomorrow I wake up on the right side of the bed.

Things I love.

When a centre pull skein won't let you find the end without pulling out a crapload of innards.

Twice in one day.

When something turns out to be perfect for the stitch pattern when you were sure it would be lost in the yarn. The pattern isn't as obvious as it would be with a less fuzzy and more drapey yarn, but I like that there is definite interest even in it's unblocked state.

When something is getting nice and long and you know the end must be nigh. One more thing soon to be off the needles.


Yesterday's question: If a truck was transporting birds and all of the birds simultaneously took flight, would the truck get lighter?

I said no. The contents remain the same regardless of their position in the truck. A bird in flight isn't any lighter than a bird on the ground, the only difference is the placement of the air around the bird.

The Mr. said yes. The bird is no longer placing any down force on the truck bed and it should lighten as a result of the bird's force being lifted.

The Mythbusters placed a trailer on some highly sensitive weight sensors, added a couple of padded rotating arms to prevent the birds from landing and put in some birds. According to their results, I was right. The truck doesn't get any lighter with all the birds in the air. Their down force was replaced by the down force in the air created by their wingbeats. No birds were hurt in that episode. I really love that show.

The Weekend of Many.

Thank you all for the best wishes. We appreciate them and do plan to torment each other for many years to come. We showed each other the pictures of the Sears gifts we got each other that are on back-order and went for a nice dinner. He also bought me some beautiful flowers and the next morning, I threw out two of the flowers since he couldn’t stop sneezing every time he went into the kitchen. The perfect anniversary weekend.

I wasn't on-line much this weekend, nor did much in the way of chores and it shows in the knitting. I have a plan to finish many of the things on the needles so that I don't feel so annoyed by the heaps of things here and there.

Almost finished, the Pudorosa (Don't go to the English version!! It gave me a Trojan, the bugger. I'll contact the translator and let her know, hopefully she can find someone else to host the PDF.) is off the needles. I skipped the picot bind off since, although it is pretty, it isn't my thing. I plan on adding a crochet border around the top and doing some very basic lace to give it a nice finish. Now to find twelve pretty buttons or large beads to be completely done.

The Ballband-ish warshrag is done. I added another purl and knit row to each of the colour repeats to make them larger. This means fewer repeats to get the same size cloth. I like the change even if it does seem to take longer since the repeats aren't finished as fast. I am such a sook.

A new project but one that is going fast and so far, fairly well. A pencil skirt for Girly using Butterfly Super 10 mercerized cotton. It won't flair out as much as many of her other skirts do, but it should still be easy for her to run around and play. It needs to be worn with something underneath so I am thinking I may try to find a small pair of pink shorts and sew them to the waistband. Of course, it might look much nicer to simply bite the bullet and sew a proper liner. I'll decide when I get that far. So far I am still working on the first ball. I really love the mileage with this yarn.

Another new thing. An African Violet. Apparently they propagate very well by simply putting a healthy leaf in some water and rooting compound until it grows some roots then putting it right into a pot of African Violet soil. Keep the soil moist, but not wet and about two to three weeks later, little baby leaves!


Now since I am finally finished cleaning and scrubbing the oven and stovetop, I can see just how many cups of popcorn I get from 2tbsp of popcorn kernels. Also, how many are unpopped at the end. Suzanne is conducting an experiment so if you want to participate, head over and see what kind of data she needs. Since I wrote this and the crappy service from our internet provider kicked me off-line before I could publish, I popped a total of 162 kernels of no-name popcorn from the Bulk Zone. I used a bit too much oil/butter so my results won't be as accurate as they could be though. I wound up with approximately 2 cups of popped kernels and six unpopped kernels. Not bad.

One other thing. If a truck full of birds is traveling along and all the birds simultaneously take flight, does the truck suddenly weigh less?

ETA: A better warning about the english version of the Pudorosa pattern.

In Five Years

We have laughed a lot, fought a little, complained together, complimented each other and loved everyday. We have gone to bed mad, but muttered "Love you" even if through clenched teeth. We are learning more about love and life from our child and doing our best to grow old and cranky together. Because if misery loves company, it should be company you love.

Everywhere

Yesterday I got my Yarn in a Teacup Swap package. In it was this pretty little cup, my favourite tea and some very nice Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed yarn. The colour of which is perfect for this part of Project Spectrum. Now to find a project that works with the yarn. Many thanks to Lucy of Lucy Locket Recycled Her Pocket. I love that blog name.

Last night another storm blew in and I managed to capture it on the way. It was a pretty good one, but not much in the way of flash and noise. Those are the best parts, when you are inside.

I managed to get the brown and green thing ripped and rewound but, rather than cast on to reknit the bag, or finish any of the eight other things on the needles, I cast on for this. It's a narrow scarf/headband type thing using the Milanese Lace stitch from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. You can see it more clearly here.

Of course I cast on the scarf after I went through my entire stash seeking all of these for a little bee I got in my bonnet. Apparently the bee moved on and I am now proudly displaying a Hefty bag full of Super 10 mercerized cotton just for kicks. The bee left the pattern idea behind though so it's all good.

More shiny things and a green and brown thing.

Two days before I found out about BeadFX I found out about Artbeads and placed an order. Pretty, shiny, and the perfect colour for something I have in mind. One dollar shipping to Canada and no minimum order? Sold! Today it arrived. I really love it when people do up their orders so nicely.

I love it more when the order is sparkly. Hopefully the pattern idea works out and these make it just so, you know?

The green and brown thing. I love the base, I love the stitch pattern in the body (I think it would look much better on smaller needles though). The yarn and the stitch pattern are as perfect for each other as I had hoped.

Once the base is sewn to the body, it looks like crap though. I don't like them together at all.

I'm going to use this stitch again, just not for this bag.

Even the wrong side has a bit of extra interest done this way. The stitch pattern is ; Row 1: K1, P1 to end - Row 2: Purl. Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until long enough. Very simple and for those who don't like to purl, Row 1: P1, K1 to end - Row 2: Knit. I think. Don't take that as a guarantee though since I never actually tried it, it just seems like it should work that way.

Now, I gotta go pick apart the green and brown thing so I can knit it again on smaller needles with no separate base.

Yarn type stuff.

I've been plugging away at my (no longer a) Mystery Stole. Not the greatest picture, but I don't have many places to pin things. I may have to find a few of those foam boards for blocking this thing once I am done. Now that I know that the theme is Swan Lake, I am even happier with my choice of yarn and beads. Though the original selection of white or black was based on the colours of the two sisters Odette and Odile, I like mine since they colours are of the lake where Odette lived and eventually died.

I've begun a Ballband-ish dishcloth. I like the more square look this one has although the neater edges on the real ballband are better. I think I might end up crocheting an edge on this to tidy it up a bit. I broke my no more yarn rule with that cotton order from Mary Maxim, but since most of it will get turned into dishcloths for the women's shelter again I don't feel like it can be counted as stash yarn. Therefore, no guilt.

I took about fifty pictures of the sun going down yesterday and none but this one capture how the sky remained mostly grey while the sun was orange-red. This one shows more colour in the sky than was actually there, but it's pretty darn close. Not often the sun looks like a harvest moon with clear edges and no real glare.

Summer.

For every season there are moments that seem to personify the essence of the time. For knitters, cottons are the choice of summer. Not too hot to have in your lap and eminently suitable for those little projects like warshrags and summer chair covers.

In the city, a child festooned with balloons walking across a hot parking lot carrying her booty from an event and singing a happy tune. The sticky, sweet smell of cotton candy and the smoke of a slightly singed hotdog permeating the air.

Here in the middle of nowhere, the sharp, sweet smell of dew heavy swamp grasses, constant singing of the grasshoppers, soft croaks of frogs and the warm glow of the sun just coming up over the trees. No voices, no cars just the peaceful sounds of nature and the clean, fresh scent of a breeze coming in off the lake.

Imagine that, a Saturday Sky!

Things have cleared a little since I took this photo. We had a nice loud thunderstorm last night and the rains seems to have taken some of the sticky away. Thankfully. Yesterday was so humid that everyone was walking around with red faces.

Another random Blueberry Festival photo. Found at a silent auction.

Shiny... pretty...

Bwaaahahahahahah... ahem. Harumph. *cough*. Beads. Lots of them. Pretty colours. Triangle shaped. Got them at Bead FX (Canadian!). Don't look! Okay, look. I warned you though. They have loads and bank accounts could get hurt. Also, I ordered these last week and not only did they ship fast (they sent me the tracking number too so I could watch them coming) but I ordered the green the day after I ordered the rest of them and they combined the shipping and refunded my paypal account one of the shipping charges.

Shiny... sparkly... need to knit and bead lace. Bye now.

More of the random stuff.

It's that time again! Time for the Red Scarf Project.


Grab some needles, some gender neutral, easy care yarn and knit like mad. The deadlines have changed this year since they had so many last year and they are asking that no one send in more than 5 scarves per person. Also, Norma has some fabulous prizes up for anyone who donates. Did I mention that the prizes were incredible? They are.

Now, because we went to the Teddy Bear picnic last night with my camera case and conveniently left the camera sitting here on the charger, I am posting a random photo of a Ukrainian dance troupe that performed some wicked dances at the town beach on Friday last.


My camera work has been lacking this last little while. I think I need more sleep and fewer children running around all week. Perhaps this going to work thing might not be so bad after all. Four children 4 and under and one 6 year old are wearing me down. I don't know how women with children really close together in ages do it all day and all night. However they manage, I admire their patience and strength of mind. I am happy that we decide to enjoy Girly for a few years before thinking about having another.

Stuff.

This morning while I was putting the dog out, the dew freaked me out a little. I thought for a minute that it was frost. Nevermind that the air was no where near cold enough for it to have been frost. Apparently my half asleep still fogged brain can be tricked by the way the light hits the dew. The perfect way to make yourself feel extra smart first thing in the morning.

The brown/green thing is looking good. It got ripped and adjusted a few times, but now I think I've got it, by Jove!

The black thing grew in between ripping so I could have a frustration break. Why a f*# f@! anything is a break from frustration, I'm not really sure, but somewhere along the way this thing became nice to work on. Simple garter stitch, nicely smooth and Girly will love it once she finds out that it is hers.