missouristar

Lately I've been toying with the idea of taking up spinning.  I figured after 24 years of hard work, I would splurge on a retirement gift – something that I could carry with me into retirement and provide me with a new learning experience.  I talked to the nice lady at our LYS who offered to let me come in and spin on several different wheels to get a feel for them.  I talked to several friends who are spinners and I spent time cruising the internet looking at different wheels.  My decision?  Not to spin.  First of all, I don't need to take up something completely new and I figured anything that stood between me and casting on a new project would only cause me frustration.  And there are so many beautiful yarns out there that I still want to sample, I don't really need to create my own.

Instead, I'm going to look at getting a good, high quality SLR camera.  I love photography and would love even more getting good at it.  This is also something that I can share with hubby and something that I can integrate with what is becoming a passion almost as great as quilting and knitting – digital scrapbooking.  I just bought some CD's with three years of back issues from Scrapper's Guide and have been having a blast learning new techniques in Photoshop Elements.  Here's my latest page:

So, if any of you photography buffs out there have any suggestions for a camera, please feel free to chime in!

I've continued my baby sweater obsession and have completed two more:

I decided that I needed to make some little boy sweaters, but when I dived into my Encore stash, this is what I found:

Do you think having granddaughters has skewed my color wheel?  So I had to go out and buy some blue.  While I was there, my local pusher had to show me some new yarn that had just come in, and of course, it jumped right into my basket and made its way home:

This is King Cole "Splash".  Although I usually avoid 100% acrylic, I loved the colors in this so much and it's very soft and not at all "squeaky".  This will be Ivy's Christmas sweater – a simple cardigan from "Top Down for Toddlers".  In the picture, it is actually upside down – the garter stitch area is the collar.  This is DK weight and I'm finding it a rest for my fingers from the worsted.

Today when the mail came, I received a surprise – my Embrace the Lace shipment.  I had entirely forgotten about it!  I think many of us were just a little disappointed with the first shipment, but this one made up for all of that:

Included in the shipment were notecards, two cute heart boxes with beads and a stitch marker, a heart box full of candies, a heart tape measure, a sample of a yarn soak, a highlighter pen, luscious cashmere lace yarn from Mama Llama, a great beaded scarf pattern by Sivia Harding, and a cute bag to put it all in!  Definitely a winner.

And speaking of winner – I won Sonny and Shear's monthly trivia contest!  Woo Hoo!  I hardly ever win anything.  But I now have $25 gift certficate to spend in their store.  Now I just have to decide on what sock yarn to buy.  Thanks Kris!

The Babies and Bears juggernaut plows on!  I finished the third and have cast on for the fourth:

Several knitters have expressed interest in the pattern, so I thought a critique and some suggestions might be in order.  The construction on this is most of the fun.  You start at the sleeve edge and knit one half of the sweater.  A small front band with a pattern is then knit on and the first half is set aside while you knit the second half.  Another front band goes on that and then a back band goes on only one half and is then kitchenered to the other half.  Neckline stitches are picked up and a hood knitted on.  The pattern calls for the hood seam to be kitchenered, but I did a three needle bind off, which I think gives more stability and a nice, neat finish.

The last step has you putting held stitches from the left band, across the bottom and right band on one needle and knitting a front/bottom band with buttonholes.  It is at this point that I think a break from the pattern is in order.  The sweater, knit as instructed, is too short.  I tried several different ways of dealing with this.  On the first, yellow sweater, I did short rows across the bottom. 

This helped some, but I still think it's too short.  On the next sweater, I tried another method of short rows, but this came out even shorter.  It really escapes me exactly what I did, but since I don't want to do it again, that seems a moot point!

On the third sweater I hit pay dirt.  Before picking up the last set of stitches, I put only the bottom stitches on a needle and knit 10 rows of garter stitch.  I then put all of the stitches on one needle and finished as instructed.  This does give two more ends to weave in, but I think the finished sweater has much more pleasing proportions:

This also gives a very pretty back:

Probably the biggest disappointment I have with the pattern is that it is technically only written for one size.  It was advertised as fitting from newborn up to 36 months.  But in order to do that, you have to change the weight of yarn.  A fingering weight will fit a newborn, but for a three year old, you have to use bulky weight.  I do understand that the construction of this sweater has limitations.  Like the baby surprise jacket, it does not easily lend itself to proportional adjustments.  Cottage Creations has come out with an adult size (I believe without the hood), but child sizes have been more elusive.  But for the purposes for which I intend it, as a charity knit, it fits the bill perfectly.  And I do think it will become my "go to" baby shower gift.  If I want a hoodie sweater for a child, the Wonderful Wallaby has any size you could possibly want, and they have recently come out with a cardigan version with either a zipper or buttonholes and a hood or a collar.  Oh, and the Babies and Bears only takes two skeins of Encore, so it is quite an economical gift as well.  And have I mentioned – no seaming!!  Once you've made a couple, you'll have the pattern memorized, so it's a good on-the-go knitting project.

I think now, though, I need to give my fingers a rest.  Although I plan to keep on churning out little sweaters, I think I'm ready to pick up my Cookie A socks, which are feeling totally neglected.

Have wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Remember the men and women who have made sacrifices for our freedom.  Hubby is driving in the Memorial Day parade and will be carrying a Pearl Harbor survivor.  And our weather is supposed it be picture perfect!!

The past two weeks have been so busy – with one social obligation after another.  It's so difficult to be popular!  I have managed to have a little down time, but when faced with the decision to blog or to knit, knitting won out.  On the positive side there is now something to blog about.

Our road trip was a lot of fun and very successful.  The drive over the Cascades is always beautiful with snow capped mountains on every side:

Graduation brought back some wonderful memories and knitting was accomplished at the ceremony, by both the attendees and the graduate:

My sister-in-law actually got a photo of herself knitting during the ceremony, but I don't have a copy yet.  I think the other graduates thought she was a little strange, but they're young so we'll have to give them a little latitude.

After many years of hard work Debbie has earned her Master's Degree and we are very proud of her!  Her boss posed for photos with her, wearing the handknitted socks she made for him:

The road trip provided almost 12 hours of concentrated knitting time.  I finished one little baby sweater and started another, which I finished shortly after arriving back home:

This is the Babies and Bears Cardigan from Cottage Creations.  I don't know when I've had so much fun with a pattern.  It is truly addicting!  I've started another one:

These will all be for charity.  My sister belongs to an organization called Eastside Baby Corner.  They are a clearinghouse which coordinates getting donations to the appropriate organizations that can distribute them to those who need them.  Irrationally, I was feeling a little guilty about knitting the same thing over and over, but I'm not sure why!  I'm having fun and I'm doing something that's needed.  So I may just knit a dozen!!

Saturday was the Third Annual Spring Tea at my house.  The teacups waited patiently for the guests to arrive:

We had about 20 honored guests:

Maggie was in doggie heaven because the girls attending spent a lot of time outside playing with her.  Hubby said she crashed big time afterwards, only rousing herself briefly to eat dinner.

After the party was over, my sister and I did a quick clean up and headed off for the opera in Seattle.  Yes, I overbooked myself!  We saw "The Marriage of Figaro".  It was wonderful!  The cast did a great job with the comedic portions and the arias, especially those of the Countess, were awe inspiring.

So there you have it!  The Mad Social Whirl.  I think I'll go back to work tomorrow for a bit of a rest!

It just occurred to me that hubby and I have a road trip coming up at the end of the week and I need to get my knitting ready!  We're driving over to Pullman for WSU graduation.  My sister-in-law is receiving her Master's Degree.  Way to go Debbie!!  She doesn't have a blog, but her Ravelry ID is "waitingtoknit", so pop on over and give her a congratulations if you're so inclined.  We'll be staying at the same bed and breakfast as last year.  I think the trip will be fun and bring back a lot of nice memories.

Anyway, I have some decisions to make – at least 12 hours on the road provides a lot of knitting time.  Of course, there are socks:

The black speckled is a plain Jane sock that should be easily finished in no time flat.  And then there are the Cookie A socks that I put aside for other projects.  There is the last sleeve for hubby's Torgier:

That, too, could be easily finished.  Or should I take something new??  I got a case of startitis this week and cast on for a baby afghan for our Pregnancy Care Center.  It's for charity, so of course that justifies anything – right? 

The only problem is that I used size 8 needles because my size 7's were engaged with another charity baby afghan.  I've decided that 8 is my breaking point for needle size.  Regrettably I think I am developing arthritis in my right hand.  I've been having a lot of pain in my index finger knuckle and have trouble gripping things.  This week hubby put in a lever type doorknob on the door to the garage because I was having trouble opening it.  Anything larger than a size 7 is really hard on my hands.  But on the positive side, lace knitting on teeny needles does not seem to be endangered.

The baby afghan on size 7's is also presenting its own set of problems:

Yes, it's lovely, but I can't tell you how many times I've ripped the dang thing!  The pattern is not that difficult, but I keep getting off on my stitch count.  Part of me says to just rip it and start over, the other says that I will not let a simple afghan defeat me and I must press on!!  The yellow one will be frogged to be started over on smaller needles – any votes on the fate of the the little hearts?  And while we're at it – any suggestions on your favorite baby afghan pattern?

We had a new little visitor at our bird feeder yesterday:

I know that squirrels are considered a real pest at feeders, but we get them so seldom and I'm inclined to think that they deserve a little snack now and then too.  We'll see how fast he goes through sunflower seeds.  He didn't seem too shy and let me get pretty close for a picture.

Two birthdays this week – Isobel turns 4!!!  How can that be?  And hubby turns the big 60.  How can than be??  I'm close behind him and find it hard to wrap my mind around that.  Neither of us feels 60 – except when trying to grip size 8 needles.  So – how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were??

I've been meeting myself coming and going this week!  It hasn't been any one big event, but just dozens of little things that have conspired to eat away at my time.  Hubby's sister is gone on an extended vacation and we've come to realize how much caregiving she does for my mother-in-law.  It's taken two of us to take up the slack!  On the plus side, I've done a lot of sitting around waiting during her various appointments, so that translated into some good knitting time.  I was able to finish one sleeve of hubby's Torgier:

Sorry for the crappy photo – you're lucky to get that much!

What I haven't had is long periods of time at home, which I miss.  It has really made me long for retirement!  And things have been pretty challenging at work (more on that to come), so when I get home I haven't had energy to do more than just veg in front of the television.  In fact, I've been so exhausted when I get home that I've really been neglecting going out for walks with Maggie.  I think that's been a huge tactical error.  Tonight when I got home, I made myself go out and found that when I returned, I actually had more energy rather than less.  Plus I had one very happy little puppy who is sleeping peacefully at my feet rather than running around like a crazy dog!

Saturday I spent at church with a group from my quilt guild making Community Quilts for the hospital, foster children, CADA, etc.  Every time I go I keep thinking I need to take my camera – maybe next time!  When I came home I was able to scratch out a little time to work on some blocks for Quilts of Valor – quilts for wounded servicemen:

Both types of sewing really fit into my schedule and mind set this week.  You're basically handed a pattern and pieces (some already cut out) and all you have to do is sit down and sew mindlessly!!  Just what I needed this week.

My usual distraction technique when I don't have much exciting to talk about is darling granddaughters.  Today is no exception:

I decided this week that I really did need to get back to some hibernating projects.  Hubby's Torgeir sweater is all done except for the sleeves, so during some down time waiting for his mother during her hair and physical therapy appointments, I cast on.  Imagine my delight when that night I looked down at my yarn and saw this:

How cool is that?

And that is as about as exciting as my week has been!  It's always tough going back to work after being away for an extended period.  The closer I get to retirement, the harder it gets.  We did do some financial maintenance this week in preparation for my retirement.  Part of that includes refinancing the house.  With interest rates the way they are, it would be foolish not to do so.  And I was pleasantly pleased to see that all of our retirement accounts actually gained this month! 

I have also been working away on my Cookie A socks.  These are not exactly a quick knit, but I think will be more than worth it.  My photo karma doesn't seem to be working this week, because I can't get a good shot, so you'll have to take my word for it.

I can honestly say that there isn't one pair of socks in her new book that I don't want to knit.  I think for the next pair I may just write all the names on slips of paper and draw one at random.  I did do a little stash enhancement at our LYS yesterday.  So much of my sock stash is variegated yarn that just won't work for Cookie A socks.  I found this lovely skein:

It's Calssic Elite Alpaca Sox – 60% alpaca, 20% wool and 20% nylon.  I think my feet will be very happy!

On the same shopping trip I stopped with a friend at the fabric store to help her pick out fabrics for a quilt.  I had no intention of buying anything, but 45 minutes later, I left with two patterns and whole bunch of fabrics to make dresses for the girls!  At least everything I got was on sale:

Now I just have to find the time to make them!!  On a side note – Friday we went out for pizza with our car club.  I was talking to one of the women who had retired about 7 years ago.  I really had to laugh when she told me that I should prepare myself because I would really be bored!!  It reminds me of all the cautions we received when hubby retired.  I was told that he would become really depressed because men's identities were so wrapped up in their careers.  He would quickly become bored and the predictions were dire indeed.  It's four years later and he still hasn't stopped smiling!  He says he doesn't know how he ever found the time to work.

In doggie news, our backyard is still a muddy mess, so I decided to try Maggie out in the front yard yesterday.  She really does need to get out and get some exercise.  There is no fence in the front, so I put her leash on, just so I'd have something to grab onto in case she took off.  I was pleasantly surprised.  She chased her ball and bubbles (her favorite activity) and stayed close.  When the bubbles floated out of the yard and into the driveway, she stopped chasing them.  We did a lot of practice on "come" and "stay" and she performed like a champ! 

I leave you this week with way cute granddaughter pictures.  Lately Isobel has been fascinated by tails.  So Nana found some at Michaels and sent them to her.  What cute little animals!

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Happy Easter to everyone.  Here in the Pacific Northwest we're having our typical cold, rainy, blustery Easter.  I don't think the kids around here would know what to do with an outdoor Easter egg hunt.  They're usually held indoors because of the weather.  We can have beautiful spring weather right up until Easter, and then it gets cold and rainy again.  The same goes for the 4th of July!

Our Easter has been rather laid back and quiet.  After church we went for a buffet at a local Mexican restaurant.  It was a new take on the Easter buffet and we thought we'd give it a try.  But fajitas and tacos just don't seem in keeping with tradition, so we'll probably do a more traditional buffet next year.  Then we visited Bill's mom and took her some flowers.  After that it was home for a nap and now the day is almost over.  I know, the excitement here is almost too much to bear.  After blogging I think I'll work on some scrapbooking.

While I was on vacation I hit upon an idea for a page featuring Ivy and her tea party:

I know I say this about every page, but this is my favorite so far.  I'm especially pleased with my ability to isolate her from the background and I love the quote that I found.  It seems to suit the picture to a "tea"!  This past week brought a little scare as far as Ivy was concerned.  At the local playground, she discovered a mushroom and tried to eat it.  Abby was able to get a big chunk out of her mouth, but since they didn't know the type of mushroom or how much she ate, they took her to the emergency room.  They gave her activated charcoal and hooked her up to an IV and kept her for 6 hours.  She seems to be fine now and Abby said she was a little trooper through it all!  I'm sure Mommy and Daddy have a few more grey hairs, though.

On the knitting front, I finished Hidcote.  Woo hoo!  I was getting a little tired of it.  No pictures until next week when I block it.  I didn't have the urge to cast on anything big, but I've been drooling over the pictures in Cookie A.'s new book, Sock Innovations.  I cast on for the "Rick" socks in some Opal handpaint that I had, but it didn't take long to realize that the yarn was obscuring the pattern.  So I recast on with some Dream in Color Smooshy, with much better results:

I figured if I was putting in this much work, I really wanted to see the pattern.  This will not be a quick knit, but I think will be worth it.  All of her patterns are really stunning.

I haven't blogged yet about my lace club delivery.  It arrived just a day before I left.  I was a little disappointed.  I know I joined the club to expand my repertoire, but neither the color nor the pattern really suits me at all.  The yarn is very nice – Malabrigo lace, but the color is a yellow/green.  Probably one of my least favorite colors.  The pattern is for a Moebius shoulder wrap.  Again – not something that I would probably wear.  I do have a pattern for a beaded scarf that I think might be appropriate, but I'm going to let this simmer for a while.  I still may end up doing the shoulder wrap as a gift, just to be able to try something new.  Who knows – I might even really like it!

I leave you this week with one of the family pictures I scanned in.  This was taken ca. 1955 as our passport photo when we returned from a tour of duty in Japan.  It is one of my favorites:

I always experience a bit of culture shock when going back home.  There is a world of difference between the wide open vistas of snow-capped mountains, oceans and evergreens of Whidbey Island and the deciduous forests and low rolling hills and farmlands of the Ozarks.  Of course, you gotta love an area with such charming tourist attractions as the Bucksnort Saloon and Hillbilly Junction (actually, one of my favorite tourist traps).  My home town is the proverbial wide spot in the road that you will miss if you blink:

This is the side street that runs by my parents' house:

My parents' house was built back in the 1930's out of rock imported from Arkansas.  It is a fossil hunter's treasure trove, with evidence of shells, sand formations and even petrified wood:

The town has few amenities, but does boast a cafe with the best catfish and hushpuppies in the country, at least in my opinion.  And one of the town's charming residents is a Basset Hound with his own pet duck:

Apparently you never see one without the other.  I wanted to go over and give the dog a big scratch behind his ears, but he growled at me.  Dad said he didn't think he would bite – it would require too much energy!  But I wasn't taking any chances. 

As the dog proves, life in Thomasville is relaxed and easy going.  Everyone knows everyone else – in fact, they all seem to be related.  It seemed as if every time we met someone, Mom told me he/she was a cousin!  We had a great time just kicking back and doing nothing and visiting with family:

From left to right:  Mom, Kim (my brother's wife), Mike (my brother), me, Aaron (my nephew and an all-around nice kid), Claudia (my sister) and Dad.  The only ones missing were my brother Pat and his fiancee Barbara. 

I did get quite a bit of knitting done.  Believe it or not, I took Hidcote.  The time-out chair lasted all of about four hours and I couldn't stand it anymore.  I'm up to the last chart and have decided that I want to finish this before I start anything else.

I also spent a lot of time scanning old photos into my computer.  I had a huge pile and wasn't sure I'd make it, but I got them all in.  I'm hoping to do some scrapbooking with them.  Here's one of my favorites:

I'm on the far left.  And these two photos are for Marguerite – not up to her quality, but I felt lucky to get them:

Fortunately I have three days left before I have to go back to work, but a lot on my plate, including taxes.  But it sure is good to be home!

Did you ever have one of those days??  I was going to make a huge sprint for the finish line and try to complete Hidcote before I left on vacation.  I began to suspect I was in trouble last night.  On the next to the last chart I somehow got off on my symmetricalness.  I thought I could recover, but as I started the last chart this morning, I realized I was only kidding myself: