Serendipity

Quite unexpectedly I benefited from the generosity of a fellow knitter. Yesterday at the German cultural center a new friend noticed that I like to knit with green. She gave me this yarn that she had been given by someone else.


















It will become a pair of socks. Probably the first socks that I'll be able to wear with shoes as both my previous pairs were worsted weight wool. This is a fingerweight yarn, 70% wool and blended with 23% polyamide (I'll need to look that up) 7% polyester. I can see how these colors do not fit my friend's style. But they are the perfect spring colors for me. They remind me of the bright parsley peeking through the dirt and leaves in my herb garden. With taupe and silvery leaves, brown earth and dark brown coffee grounds not yet turned under the soil.




Or maybe the clump of chives reaching for the sun.

But these socks need to get in line. My sweater is not done yet. I have the first successful sleeve done and the second one needs another 12 rows before I complete it. Then the assembly gets started so the neckline stitches can be knitted up. Maybe this weekend I'll finish?


Today Ohio had a beautiful sunny day with nice moderate temperatures. We took a long lunch and walked to the neighborhood playground. Ds enjoyed the swinging bridge and the slides. Dd liked bike riding and the swings.

First of Three Sleeves

There's a first time for everything. Today I made my first sleeve. I had my daughter do a bit more work on her own than she has done in the past. My ulterior motive was to get to my knitting. I was almost done with the shoulders of the front panel and anxious to begin the sleeves!

But there were lots of conversations dh and I have had together about how to conduct school when I have a kindergartener and a fourth grader vying for my time. The elder would need to become a little more independent in her work while the younger needs more work-with-me time and attention to get the hang of things like how to hold a pencil and how to draw alphabet letters next to each other rather than jumbled up atop each other.

So the younger was busy with "coloring time." The elder was noting the procedure and conclusion from a science experiment. And I began my first sleeve. It started okay. Not the greatest cast on, but acceptable. I kept going. I did decide to make the sleeves about 1½ inches shorter than my pattern indicates, so I knitted on to see how that would go. A little more than half way through the sleeve, the nice stockinette is marred by a where I had to remove half a row. After an interruption I picked up the needles and began to knit a purl row. Drat! I went along and finished so I could see how long my sleeve would be. But now there were two mistakes. I could have lived with either one, but not two, so this sleeve is doomed. When I complete the second sleeve I'll unravel this one and begin it again.

I did learn the long, slender, super flexible plastic needles I have for the ribbing are very nice to work with but are not suited for casting on. At least not for me. So I'll cast on to a sturdier needle and that problem will be solved. Now I'm hoping I will only need to make three sleeves for this sweater! I can be certain I will only need to complete three. With some luck I'll only have to begin two more times. And I'm hoping for smoother increases, decreases and no more unraveling half rows.

Here I have my mistake-riddled model sleeve and the ribbing of the sleeve I plan to attach to the sweater. I tried to hold the yarn in my fingers rather than my fist this morning. So I was going along quite slowly and only achieved this poor little inch of ribbing while my dd was in Latin class. When I pinned the sleeve for its photo I noticed more practice with the tension is needed. Occasionally one stitch is looser than its neighbors. Also the scar where I ripped out 2/3 of the row glares at me. I see I'll also need to change my decrease methods at the right side of the sleeve cap. This will probably be hidden in the seam, but I still know it is there. The new cast on is much more uniform in tension as I used the straight metal needle.

New Habits, Old Habits

New habits...While researching how to do a new stitch on line I discovered there were a few diffferent knitting methods, English, Continental, and maybe some others. I also learned at this time that I don't fit into any method as I have been using my right hand to hold the yarn in a rather unconventional way. I have been letting the yarn slip under the palm on my hand while I use my thumb and index finger to wrap the stitches. My pinkey and ring finger curl around the strand and control the tension. This worked beautifully. I was pleased with the fabric created and with the compliments the grandmothers at the German cultural center would give about my 'nice even stitches' that they 'look like machine knitting'. Is that addage about pride coming to mind? ;-)
This unusual method caused my pinkey fingernail to dig into the palm of my hand relentlessly. When I wake up in the morning I can see the mark left from knitting the previous evening. I've filed my nail as much as I can and no more can be done. I still needed to take a break and rest my sore palm every half hour. Since the whole idea of knitting after dinner is to avoid eating after dinner, each rest was a nasty temptation to visit the kitchen! The pain to change has become less than the pain to stay the same. Yesterday I slowed my knitting pace to experiment with new ways to hold the yarn in my right hand. I think I've found a way. But I need to make it a habit. The relief on the palm of my hand was noticable.

My new method is quite natural and comfortable in the knit stitch but still a bit awkward in the purl stitch. Especially with keeping good tension in the purl stitch. Those are the only stitches I'm using on this project. The sacrifice of some speed now will benefit me if I can keep knitting longer, and hopefully, teach dd the proper method. And, thank you, dd, for being my photographer today.

Old habits...Just a few more days--on Sunday evening my beloved Tribe opens their season at Comiskey against the Chi Sox. I don't remember the last time we had a season opener at home. We don't subscribe to cable so I'll be tuned in to the Indians Radio Network. All the wonderful summer memories of dad listening to the games on our screened porch, the special timber only AM radio has, our world class announcers, the delightful sound of a ball field in use, and the hope for an exciting October will be reborn. I can almost smell a freshly cut lawn.

March is busting out all over

It doesn't have the same ring to it as the song "June is Bustin' out all Over" but it is encouraging to me anyway. We left for church this morning and I saw the snow drops










and the crocuses (my favorite of the early spring) looking glorious. You can also see one of the garden beds I did not get cleaned up yet.










After lunch the kiddos got on their bikes/pogo stick/rollerblades and enjoyed some time outside. It has been a long time since they could go out for a romp.
The front of my sweater is catching up to the back. Tonight I'll begin the shaping for the arm holes and maybe even complete the front.
I just got a book from the library that I'll have to order from the book store: Great Knits Texture and Color Techniques from Threads (I'm guessing that is a magazine). I feel like a freshman peeking at senior exams when I look at it now, but I'm curious to try the sideways knitting mentioned inside. They also give some instructions about using two colors similar to what I glossed over in Knitting Without Tears (Elizabeth Zimmermann). I suppose I'm getting closer to being ready to try that new technique.

Ready for Spring

I am very ready for spring. Here are the last garden green beans from last year's harvest. They will fill out the beef stew simmering in the crock pot for supper.

Who besides a home schooler has Periodic Table of the Elements placemats?

Along with this one our school has placemats illustrating: U.S. presidents, great composers, map of the U.S, the Solar System, northern and southern hemsphere constellation maps, and musical instruments of the orchestra, and flags of the world.

More Sweater

This is Honey. She is one of dd's favorite dolls. She is sporting her new sweater and pants. My k1 p1 ribbing is much improved between the overcoat and this outfit. The color change was needed in the sweater as we were running out of the green yarn. I was afraid I would not have enough to finish. The rough spots where I changed color are hiding in this picture. I'm also glad Honey does no complain about the knots rubbing against her skin. I know I would. So color changes go on my list of things to learn.

A fellow knitter recommended Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmeramnn. Today I picked it up from the library. I plan to start reading it this week. Looks like I’ll have to take notes.

Last night I got the back of my sweater finished, I think. The very last row in the directions I had to omit as I had no stitches left when the instructions told me to bind off the last seven.

I don’t know if I’ve made any errors or not, so I will keep going with the front. You can see just about two inches of the front here. If there are errors I’m sure I’ll find them when it is time to pick up stitches for the neck. You know, when I’m a few hours from being done!

More Knitting

This is my first shawl. I made it for dd in December as a Christmas gift. It is very similar to one she was given as a gift when her little brother was born. That one was well worn and outgrown. This is a glossy white nylon/acrylic eyelash. It suits its owner well. It is a simple triangle. I cast on some 80 stitches and knitted three rows. Then I decreased one stitch by binding off the last stitch in every row until the final three stitches which were bound off at once.

I inherited several shawls and stoles that I rarely wear. Now that I've just begun to have an appreciation for the effort that went into making them, I'm looking forward to incorporating them into my wardrobe more. Especially on Sundays. Our large and ancient church building is rarely warm enough for me to be comfortable without a coat, unless it is July or August.

This is the back panel of the summer sweater I'm working on now. It is almost ready to begin shaping the shoulders and neck. So I spent some time this morning browsing Knitty learning that I have been picking up stitches incorrectly. This is good to know now. And I'm not bothered by the past mistakes because they were all on felted items and the errors are now not noticable.


Here's a closer view of the back right around where the sleeve will attach.

When I found this pattern I knew right away I would lengthen the sweater a few inches (3"). Now I'm considering shortening the sleeves about an inch. We'll see what happens.

Some items I've knitted in the last few months

This was to be a sweater for a doll. I learned that needle size is important. It is an overcoat instead.

It was good practice for learning ribbing (mistake riddled here) making button holes, and what a seamstress would call a horizonal dart though I have no idea what it's called in knitting.

And showing you is good practice with loading photos.

One Summer Project

I seem to be saying "maybe this summer" a lot these days. My latest summer project will be to move our school room out of the dining room and upstairs to a smaller but dedicated-to- school space.

In the fall I'll have two students, K and 4th grade. It is ever so tiresome to have to clear school out of the way to make lunch at the dining table (our home's only eating space) and then get back to school when lunch is over.

(Wasted too much time trying to insert nifty photo here)

Browsing for a 4' x 2' school table yielded some good possibilities including some adjustable height tables that will probably result in improved penmanship. Prices were reasonable too. After putting in a table I'll have to move toys from a bookshelf and replace them with school books.

Some Photo Success at Last!

Thank you, dh, for the tutorial! I hope to be able to move forward on my own now.


This above is the beginning of my first sweater. Here you can see about 10" of the back. So far the pattern is easy. We'll see what happens when I need to change the shaping for the arms.


This is a scarf I made for my boy who loves green. his first scarf was too loosely knit and it pulled in the zipper of his coat. This is blue and green held together throughout with a simple knit and purl pattern. The weave was very tight, so for the middle third I changed to a larger size needle for comfort around the neck. I'm very pleased with the result.

Success Story

I love to make the traditional corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for St. Patrick's day. Easy prep, and yummy. My family is not too crazy about boiled cabbage so I opened my cook book today to find scalloped cabbage. It was a hit! My 4yo asked for more before he finished anything else, and he likes thi meal too. DD ate it first before seconds of beef. DH is not home yet, but I'm hoping he'll like it too.

For about 5 mins. I boiled the quartered cabbage. Then I let it cool on a cutting board while I made a cream sauce and sauted some bread crumbs in butter. I chopped the cabbage in to bite size pieces and put it in a baking dish alternating with the cream sauce and some bread crumbs. I baked it about 20 mins. to re-heat before serving. I'll have to add this into my mix of meals more often.

My first attempt at a sweater is coming along. I've gotta figure out this picture thing. A friend has a saying, "Wear Thy Knitting." I'd like to abide by that. So far the sweater back is about 10" long. At 16" I can look at the pattern again to find out how to shape around the arms.

My son just asked for thirds of cabbage. I'll have to tell dh about this.

Just 15 days till opening day. Go Tribe. I can't wait for Memorial Weekend. Dh, dd, Dad and I will enjoy a day at the ballpark together.

Some progress, but still frustrated. This time I got a picture to have a failed upload. That's the closest I've gotten. Maybe this weekend I'll get to practice some more.

New Slippers

My friend at favoriteapron.blogspot.com gave me a pattern for some wonderful slippers to knit in wool and felt down to size. I loved them, so warm, useful and satisfying for a new knitter like me.

I would like to show a photo of the first slippers, but I cannot figure out how to do it and soon I will need to make supper for my troops who've been working so hard on this Saturday.

I wore them so much they got holes in the soles. So now I am trying again. This time I have a worsted weight wool instead of a thick-and-thin variagated. I finished one last night and now I've begun the second. This time I have modified slightly - reducing the foot 4 stitches in circumference and I added some leftover wool from another project into the heel and the sole of the slipper. I'm hoping they will felt well to make a nice thick sole, but we will see. In any event it will be a learning experience. It seems very tedious to work with a second color just where I want it. That is probably jsut because I am making up how as I go along instead of following some directions.

Well, it seems a photo loading tutorial is in order. In the last 45 minutes I've succeeded in frustrating myself!